"With this rapid change in the fire, firefighting resources were dispatched on Friday, July 16, and arrived on scene at 3 p.m.," she said. Hupp said the Tamarack Fire didn't exhibit active behavior until July 16, when high winds and low humidity levels pushed flames downslope. Throughout the week of July 12, fire resources were allocated to Garson Fire near Reno. Fire resources were limited and were assigned to these higher priority fires."Īctive fires in the first half of July included the East Fork Fire, which threatened Gardnerville, Nevada, and several smaller fires on the Bridgeport Ranger District in California. Out of the numerous lightning fire starts on the Forest, seven resulted in larger fires. "The steep, rugged, and remote terrain presented challenges to safely suppress this wilderness fire. "At the time, it was a single tree burning in the Mokelumne Wilderness on a rocky ridgetop with sparse fuels and natural barriers to contain it," Erica Hupp, a spokesperson for the Forest Service, wrote in an email. The Forest Service confirmed in an email statement that the agency initially monitored the fire "very closely via air and fire cameras" as firefighters focused on other more active blazes - including 23 other wildfires that were triggered by lightning earlier that week. Flames crossed into Nevada this week, and the blaze was 50,129 acres and 4% contained Thursday morning, the Forest Service said. The National Weather Service said fire weather concerns will continue through Friday as "gusty winds and low humidity combined with the established dry terrain" are expected in most of Montana and Southern Idaho.The Tamarack Fire ignited in Alpine County near Markleeville, Calif., by a lightning strike July 4 and exploded in size last week as strong winds fanned flames eating up a parched landscape. Research points to potential long-term health damage from breathing in microscopic particles of smoke, meaning millions of people could be at risk far from where huge fires burn. In North Carolina, the weather service warned "air quality is expected to reach code orange, which is unhealthy for sensitive groups and means individuals with respiratory and/or heart ailments, older adults, and children should reduce prolonged or heavy outdoor exertion." Air quality alerts were issued from Minnesota to North Carolina. Update your settings here to see it.Īfter a cold front swept the skies clean in the Northeast overnight, smoke was forecast to be thickest across the Carolinas, the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys, the Great Lakes and the Upper Midwest on Thursday, the weather service said. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. In Oregon, the nation’s largest wildfire, the Bootleg Fire, grew to 624 square miles Thursday – more than half the size of Rhode Island. The west shore of a resort lake and many other small communities were under evacuation orders. To the northwest, the Dixie Fire spread up the west flank of the Sierra Nevada, expanding to more than 162 square miles. An evacuation center was set up at a community center in Gardnerville, Nevada.įire officials expected active or extreme fire behavior Thursday, which could see 14-mph winds and temperatures approaching 90 degrees. The fire has burned more than 68 square miles of national forest.Ī request for evacuations was issued for portions of Douglas County, Nevada, as the fire spread across the state line. More than 1,200 firefighters battled the Tamarack Fire near Lake Tahoe in California and Nevada on Thursday. Smoke from wildfires in the West continued to spread Thursday, bringing hazy skies and poor air quality to many locations. A large wildfire in Northern California spread into Nevada late Wednesday, leading to new evacuations, while crews battling the nation's largest fire in Oregon were aided by better weather.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |