Colorado Fire Damage – More than Half a Billion Dollars | News from Germany on world events | Dw

Wildfires in the US state of Colorado caused $ 513 million in damage and destroyed about 1,100 homes. The authorities of the affected Boulder County announced this on Thursday, January 6.

As a result of the worst fire catastrophe in the history of the state, two people are considered missing. The blaze ravaged entire neighborhoods in the suburban area between the Colorado capital Denver and Boulder, covering an area of ​​approximately 24 square kilometers. km. The cause of the fire that happened on December 30 has not yet been established, an investigation is underway. The fire was preceded by a long and severe drought.

Snowfall stopped the spread of fire

According to police, at least 33,000 people were evacuated from the Denver suburbs. The flame spread rapidly due to the strong wind, the gusts of which reached 160 km / h. “It was an overspeed disaster. Many families had only a few minutes to get their kids and pets in their cars and drive away,” said State Governor Jared Polis.

The spread of the flame was stopped by a snowfall. However, the snow blockages made it difficult to carry out rescue operations and assess the damage.

Forest fires in the USA

According to experts, despite the fact that previously winter forest fires in this region were quite rare, now you should be prepared for a repetition of such phenomena. According to them, dry periods will be repeated, and the reason for this may be global climate change.

California fire, summer 2021

In recent years, large forest fires have often devastated vast areas in different states of America. In the summer of 2021, in northern California, 187.5 thousand hectares were engulfed in flames. Thousands of people were forced to flee their homes.

In the summer of 2020, against the backdrop of massive wildfires in California, which became the largest in the history of the state, Governor Gavin Newsom asked for help from a number of other US states, as well as Canada and Australia. The fire devastated a record area of ​​12 thousand square meters. km. In addition, strong fires raged in the states of Oregon and Washington.

See also:

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  Russia: the fire passed over 3.5 million hectares

  In Russia, forests have been burning for several weeks in many regions. Yakutia was particularly hard hit by the devastating fires – by the beginning of August, over 170 fires were recorded there, and the area of ​​fires exceeded 1.6 million hectares. Throughout the country, there are more than 150 hotbeds of fire, in total, the fire passed over 3.5 million hectares.

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  Heavy fires cause thick smoke to spread over many cities, as in this photograph of the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk. Due to the smog hanging in the air, it is almost impossible to be outdoors. Many people have aggravated breathing problems.

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  Turkey: wildfire flames come to homes

  Turkey is also fighting destructive fires. The flames of forest fires are approaching residential areas. The picture shows Turkish firefighters trying to stop the fire in the village of Chokertme, preventing it from spreading to houses. The fire in Turkey took place over 150 thousand hectares, whole villages became victims of the fire element there.

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  Greece: unknown ahead

  The picture shows the inhabitants of the Greek island of Evia (Evia), who had to be evacuated by ferry. None of them know when they will be able to return home again, and few have any hope that the fire will spare their homes. The first fires on the island were at the beginning of the week, but firefighters started extinguishing from the air only on Sunday, August 8.

• 

  World in fire. The most devastating wildfires of 2021

  Greece: desperate attempts to put out the fire

  Not everyone escapes – many Greeks are trying to help firefighters fight the fire. Sometimes their actions become desperate, as in this picture, where the man tries to extinguish the flame with tree branches. The authorities ask local residents not to try to resist the fire element on their own and not to expose themselves to danger.

• 

  World in fire. The most devastating wildfires of 2021

  USA: flames rage outside of bushfire season

  California currently has over 5,700 sources of ignition, even though the annual bushfire season has yet to begin. The picture shows a firefighter watching the flames, trying to slow the spread of a wildfire near the city of Westwood.

• 

  World in fire. The most devastating wildfires of 2021

  California: tornadoes of ash and coals

  Fighting fires is complicated by tornadoes of ash and coals sweeping through the hills of Santa Barbara. Unable to cope with the devastating element, the governors of the engulfed regions in the northwestern United States turned to Washington for help, asking to send rescue teams and fire planes.

  Author: Sarah Klein, Marina Baranovskaya

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