‘Unprecedented’ fires rage out of control in West, with some Ore. communities ‘substantially destroyed’ and hundreds of homes lost
An unusually expansive outbreak of large and fast-moving wildfires threatens communities in three states Wednesday, with the greatest risks focused on Medford, Ore., and Oroville, Calif., as large fires advance in those areas.
The wildfires come after a record-shattering heat wave and amid human-caused climate change that is heightening fire risks, along with temperatures, in the West. These blazes are being driven by strong, dry, offshore winds that are causing extreme fire behavior, which can produce everything from mushroom cloud-like plumes of smoke that reach 40,000 feet in height, to vortexes that make it impossible for firefighters to contain an advancing fire.
The Bear Fire that began in a remote region of Northern California advanced rapidly through timber Tuesday evening through Wednesday morning, coming close enough to Oroville, Calif., to prompt evacuation warnings in the area as well as parts of Paradise, Calif. That’s the same town nearly destroyed in a deadly 2018 wildfire. The fire is part of a larger complex that has rapidly burned about 254,000 acres.
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