Baghdad-INA
A huge fire broke out in northern California, forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents, at a time when the region is experiencing an “extremely dangerous” heat wave, US state authorities announced on Thursday. .
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The authorities said they ordered about 13,000 people to evacuate their residential areas after the fires raging a day ago near Oroville consumed more than 1,400 hectares of green space.
This fire is only a few kilometers from the town of Paradise, which saw a fire in 2018 that killed 85 people and has since become the deadliest fire in the state’s history.
On Wednesday, the head of the region’s fire department, Garrett Sjölund, warned that the firefighting teams, which have around 400 personnel, supported by planes and helicopters, are facing very difficult conditions.
He said, warning, “The bushes are dry, and as you can see, any storm will load the fire very quickly.”
Although it has enjoyed two very rainy winters in the last two years, the American West has been suffering from a severe drought for almost 20 years.
Thanks to the rains that have fallen in the last two years, the vegetation cover in the area has improved, but given the expectations that this year’s summer will be very hot and dry, these plants, when dry, are as fuel for the fire.
In addition to these natural factors there is a no less dangerous human factor, represented by the National Day holiday that falls on the Fourth of July, which Americans traditionally celebrate by sending off fireworks at will, which is a real nightmare for fire brigades .
With four fires in Butte County, “it’s been a bad fire season,” County Mayor Corey Honea said.
2024-07-04 05:55:12