Wildfires
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Fire

Over 700 forest wildfires break out in Portugal

More than 4,400 firefighters battled hundreds of forest blazes across Portugal on Monday, authorities said, as the annual summer wildfire season hit a peak
More than 4,400 firefighters battled hundreds of forest blazes across Portugal on Monday, authorities said, as the annual summer wildfire season hit a peak
More than 4,400 firefighters battled hundreds of forest blazes of varying sizes across Portugal on Monday, authorities said, as the annual summer wildfire season hit a peak.

The National Civil Protection Authority said on its website that by late afternoon almost 1,500 vehicles and 32 water-dumping aircraft were deployed at 702 wildfires, some of which have been burning for days.

It classified eight wildfires in the north of the country as major blazes that were out of control.

The fires spread quickly through mostly pine and eucalyptus forests that are tinder-dry after weeks without significant rain. Daytime temperatures in recent days have exceeded 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) and in some northern cities exceeded 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) on Monday.




The National Civil Protection Authority classified eight wildfires in the north of the country as major blazes that were out of control
The National Civil Protection Authority classified eight wildfires in the north of the country as major blazes that were out of control

Fire

Pilot fire grows to 7 square miles, some evacuations ordered in San Bernardino County, California

Evacuations Ordered
Firefighters try to prevent the Pilot Fire from burning over Highway 173 Sunday night, Aug. 7. (Stuart Palley/KPCC)
A wildfire in the San Bernardino National Forest east of Los Angeles grew to about 7 square miles overnight and prompted officials to issue evacuation orders in some communities.

The Pilot Fire, which started Sunday afternoon, was about 5 percent contained early Monday. It was burning in the San Bernardino Mountains between Lake Arrowhead and Silverwood Lake.

At least 400 firefighters were working to cut lines on the fire.

U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Lyn Sieliet told KPCC the strategy is to keep the fire from pushing northeast toward homes.

"They're using multiple aircraft to try and get a line around the fire, get ahead of it to keep it from going into the homes in the Hesperia area," Sieliet said.


Comment: Information map.


Fire

Lightning ignites 9 new fires in Boise National Forest, Idaho

Wildfire
Fire crews in the Boise National Forest are now working on nine new lightning-caused fires, as lightning cells moved through the area Sunday afternoon.

Very little rain occurred with the lightning event. Most of the new fires are small (under 2 acres) and approximately 50 percent of these are staffed, according to a press release from the Boise National Forest.

These new start fires are being fought with a variety of crews, engines, helicopters and air tankers.

Four of the fires are in the Boiling Springs area, about 15 miles north of Garden Valley in Valley County. Another is about 1-mile north of Sage Hen Reservoir and the fourth is about 3 miles northeast of Silver Creek Hot Springs area. These are also in Valley County.

Fire

Wildfire torches 30 square miles, destroys structures in Utah

Wildfire
Utah authorities say a rural wildfire near the Idaho border has torched about 30 square miles and destroyed three structures.

Box Elder County Fire Marshal Corey Barton said Friday the fire has burned a ranchers' cabin as well as a camp trailer and a mobile home.

All three were vacant, and no one has been hurt. A handful of isolated farmhouses and other structures in the mountainous area are threatened.

Barton says investigators believe someone accidentally started the blaze, but he couldn't immediately say exactly what sparked it.

Fire authorities say smoke has drifted into Pocatello Valley in Idaho and the Salt Lake City area, about 85 miles south of the fire.

Firefighters have contained approximately 30 percent of the fire west of Plymouth with the help of aircraft and bulldozers.

Source: AP

Fire

Raging wildfires burn across Western US: California, Utah, Montana, Oregon, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington

US wildfire
27 large wildfires are currently burning out of control in the West of the USA. Hot, dry temperatures often combined with winds have made firefighting conditions difficult, destroying homes and forcing evacuations. Here is a compilation of the largest and most dangerous as of August 4, 2016.

Wildfires in California

Authorities are considering potential penalties for whoever set an illegal campfire that ballooned into a massive wildfire near scenic Big Sur in California. The fire has charred almost 73 square miles and destroyed 57 homes. A bulldozer operator was killed on the fire lines.


Comment: A study from last year showed that wildfire seasons are more destructive and lasting longer almost everywhere on Earth.

Could a significant factor in the escalation of these events be that they are fueled from outgassing, then possibly 'sparked' by an increase in atmospheric electric discharge events, such as lightning strikes and other 'cosmic' ignition sources?


Fire

Giant wildfire in California imaged from space by NASA satellite

Wildfire from space
The Soberanes fire, currently burning near Monterey, California, was imaged by a NASA satellite on Sunday afternoon, as the blaze continued to swallow up tens of thousands of acres of land.

The fire, which has been burning for a little more than three weeks, had destroyed over 33,000 acres on Saturday (July 30), according to the Los Angeles Times. But in just a few days, the engulfed area has expanded to include 43,400 acres (67.8 square miles or 175.6 square kilometers) according to the state wildfire management agency, Cal Fire.

The image of the fire, trailing white smoke out over the Pacific Ocean, was captured with the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA's Aqua satellite at 4:35 p.m. EDT (20:35 GMT). The red lines on the image show actively burning areas detected by MODIS.

The resolution of the image is 820 feet (250 meters) per pixel, and the image shows an area about 3,730 miles (600 km) long and 260 miles (420 km) wide. A black line representing the California border with Nevada is imposed on the image.

Wildfires (marked in red) in the western United States, seen from space by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA's Aqua satellite on July 31.
Wildfires (marked in red) in the western United States, seen from space by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA's Aqua satellite on July 31.

Comment: See also: Wildfires burn across 7 Western states, prompt evacuations


Cloud Lightning

Wildfires burn across 7 Western states, prompt evacuations

A helicopter flies over a back burn on a ridge south west of Cachagua as firefighters battle a wildfire in east Carmel Valley, Calif., Monday, Aug. 1, 2016. Higher humidity and lower temperatures on Monday helped firefighters battle the destructive wildfi
© David RoyalA helicopter flies over a back burn on a ridge south west of Cachagua as firefighters battle a wildfire in east Carmel Valley, Calif., Monday, Aug. 1, 2016. Higher humidity and lower temperatures on Monday helped firefighters battle the destructive wildfire near the scenic Big Sur coast.

Wildfires were burning Monday in seven Western U.S. states, from California's famed Big Sur region to tribal towns and hamlets near Reno, Nevada. Evacuations were ordered in Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Wyoming and firefighters were trying to stop a Washington blaze from reaching a thickly forested security zone at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.

Here's a look at some of the fires:

California

Higher humidity and lower temperatures on Monday helped firefighters battle a destructive fire that has scorched more than 63 square miles near the scenic Big Sur coast, while firefighters in Central California faced blistering heat as they worked to contain a blaze that burned rural homes and forced hundreds of evacuations near the small Fresno County town of Prather.

A layer of ocean air that arrived in the mountainous Big Sur region was credited for the better firefighting conditions in an area where a fire that started July 22 has destroyed 57 homes and 11 outbuildings and is threatening 2,000 more structures. A bulldozer operator working for the firefighting operation died in an accident last week.

The blaze near Prather damaged an undetermined number of 400 evacuated homes just outside the Sierra National Forest, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.

That fire started Saturday and by Monday had grown to nearly 3 square miles with just 15 percent of it cut off by firefighters from burning further.


Fire

800 firefighters attempting to contain a 78-square-mile wildfire near Pyramid Lake, Nevada

Crews battling lightning fires in northwest, eastern Nevada
© Vince O'DayeCrews battling lightning fires in northwest, eastern Nevada
Several lightning-sparked wildfires grew in grasslands and brush in northern Nevada on Monday, where officials said about 800 firefighters were trying to contain a 78-square-mile fire near a tribal town and rural hamlets west of Pyramid Lake.

Another 300 firefighters were trying to prevent a nearly 8-square-mile wildfire from reaching a state highway in the remote and scenic Poodle Mountain Wilderness Study Area about 50 miles farther north.

In eastern Nevada, firefighters had about half of a 1.3-square-mile wildfire contained on public rangeland about 95 miles northeast of Las Vegas, Bureau of Land Management spokesman Chris Hanefeld said.

Near the largest fire, about 600 residents were allowed to return to the Pyramid Lake shoreline community of Sutcliffe after utilities were restored. They had been evacuated over the weekend, along with 200 people in beach areas. The lake remained closed to the public for boating, camping and recreation, said Scott Carey, Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal business manager.

The fire destroyed six houses and mobile homes, two vehicles and several out-buildings at historic Hardscrabble Ranch, and the Tribal Council issued a disaster declaration late Saturday to obtain resources from state and federal agencies, Carey said.


Fire

500 families told to flee raging wildfire near Hamilton, Montana

The Roaring Lion Fire burns near Hamilton, Montana, on July 31, 2016.
© KXLH-TV The Roaring Lion Fire burns near Hamilton, Montana, on July 31, 2016.
The residents of at least 500 homes are under orders to evacuate because of a fast-moving wildfire southwest of Hamilton that has already claimed a number of structures.

"We're just trying to get people out of the way now," Bitterroot National Forest spokesman Tod McKay told the Missoulian newspaper. "We can rebuild homes. We need to get people out of this area."

The wildfire -- dubbed the "Roaring Lion Fire" -- Sunday afternoon is at least a half square mile and is heading up Roaring Lion Road in the Bitterroot National Forest and down the canyon, officials said.

CBS Helena affiliate KXLH-TV reports more than 2,000 acres have burned so far.

The speed of the has left locals in shock, KXLH reports. By conservative estimates, the fire was growing at a rate of 200 acres per hour after it started early Sunday afternoon. Driven by gusty downslope winds funneled right down the valley, the fire was racing through the foothills southwest of Hamilton.

Structures in the Judd Creek area have been lost to the wildfire southwest of Hamilton, Ravalli County Sheriff Chris Hoffman told the Missoulian.



Fire

Wildfires continue to spread in California over San Francisco-sized area, 1000s of homes at risk

big sur fire
© Michael Fiala / ReutersA destroyed home is seen after the Soberanes Fire burned through the Palo Colorado area, north of Big Sur, California, U.S. July 31, 2016.
A large blaze near Big Sur on California's Central Coast spread even further on Sunday, destroying 57 homes and forcing the evacuation of another 300, as 5,000 firefighters struggled to slow down the wildfire.

The blaze is currently threatening thousands of homes. Overnight it grew to an area of 59 square miles (153 square kilometers), about the size of San Francisco, according to the California department of forestry and fire protection. Authorities have ordered 300 more homes to be evacuated.

Firefighters were able to contain only 15 percent of the blaze by Sunday morning. Overnight, it destroyed 57 homes and eleven outbuildings. Officials warned that it could be another month before the blaze is completely extinguished.

Comment: See also: State of emergency declared for Southern California wildfires