As heat wave blanketing the Southwest eases, fires worsen to the north
A wildfire burns near the Golden State Freeway File photo courtesy OnScene Media Wildfires in California wine country and Central Oregon grew overnight prompting hundreds of evacuations as firefighters worked Sunday to try to contain the blazes amid dry hot weather The Pickett Fire in Napa County had grown to more than square miles and was contained as of early Sunday according to the California Department of Forestry Fire Protection or Calfire About people were ordered to leave their homes while another were under evacuation warnings as the fire threatened about structures near Aetna Springs and Pope Valley commented Jason Clay spokesman for Calfire Sonoma Lake-Napa Unit More than firefighters backed by helicopters were battling the fire which began Thursday after a week of extremely hot weather The cause of the fire is still under inquiry Residents of the Western United States have been sweltering in a heat wave that hospitalized specific people with temperatures forecast to hit dangerous levels throughout the weekend in Washington Oregon Southern California Nevada and Arizona Clay reported the weather has moderated since the fire broke out with Sunday s high expected to be degrees But as the day goes on humidity levels were expected to drop and the winds to pick up in the afternoon That s been a driving factor in the afternoons since we ve seen the fire activity pick up for the last three days Clay reported adding that backing from all up and down California has been critical to our efforts The fire began in the same area as the much larger Glass Fire in which crossed into Sonoma County and eventually burned about square miles and more than structures That fire was driven by wind while the current fire is fueled by dry vegetation on steep slopes particular of it dead and downed trees left over from the Glass Fire and particular of it grass and brush that grew back and then dried out again commented Clay In Oregon the Flat Fire in Deschutes and Jefferson counties had grown to almost square miles with no containment and threatened nearly homes according to the state Fire Marshal s Office About people were under several sort of evacuation notice The fire began Thursday night and grew hastily amid hot gusty conditions Fire officers were keeping an eye on isolated thunderstorms in Southern Oregon that could drift north on Sunday spokesman Chris Schimmer declared in a video posted to Facebook Although it s challenging to directly tie a single fire or weather event directly to setting change scientists say human-caused warming from burning fossil fuels like coal and gas is causing more intense heat waves and droughts which in turn set the stage for more destructive wildfires
