The large wildfire scorching the western US state of Oregon topped 300,000 acres Monday as it emerged that a California power company linked to previous deadly fires may be responsible for a new blaze.
Oregon’s giant Bootleg Fire has triggered over 2,100 evacuations and destroyed 67 homes in nearly two weeks of explosive growth, regularly forcing back firefighters who have only contained one quarter of its perimeter.
“We are running firefighting operations through the day and all through the night,” said firefighter commander Joe Hessel in a statement.
“This fire is a real challenge, and we are looking at sustained battle for the foreseeable future.”
One of the fires now blazing in California, the Dixie Fire, has been linked to PG&E, the giant utility company whose power lines were blamed for sparking the 2018 Camp Fire, the deadliest in the state’s modern history. In 2019, PG&E reached a $1.7 billion settlement with regulators to pay for wildfire-related costs, as well as forest firefighting measures.
High temperatures were expected across the Northwest, including potential records in “parts of the Northern Plains, which are under an Excessive Heat Warning,” tweeted the National Weather Service.
Firefighters battle against a wildfire in Riverside County of Southern California, the United States, Aug. 2, 2020.(Photo: Xinhua)
