The state of California was sweltering under a heat wave that might linger until Labor Day when flames broke out in rural regions on Wednesday, racing through bone-dry undergrowth and forcing evacuations.
As of Wednesday night, the quickly spreading Route Fire near Castaic in northwest Los Angeles County had destroyed 4,625 acres of hills.
The flames forced the closure of the 5 Freeway, an important north-south highway. Six of the eight wounded firemen needed to be hospitalised, according to L.A. County Fire Capt. Sheila Kelliher, who gave a press conference that evening.
As of Wednesday night, no buildings had been damaged. According to Kelliher, evacuation orders were in effect for a total of around 200 residences.
According to media accounts, a wall of flames was moving upward and aircraft were dropping water from Castaic Lake nearby as smoke and flames rose thousands of feet into the air.
The L.A. County Fire Department stated that the fire was spreading irregularly and that additional resources, including enormous tanker aircraft, had been requested.
During the evacuation of the primary school, the fire charred bone-dry vegetation. Forecasters said that the area’s temperature reached 107 degrees and that winds gusted to 17 mph.
In the Dulzura neighbourhood of eastern San Diego County close to the Mexican border, a different fire destroyed a building and triggered evacuations.
According to officials, it quickly swelled to a size of around 1,400 acres and forced evacuations.
State Road 94 was shut down.
Because of the low humidity and high temperatures, which broke many records for the day, the National Weather Service warned that there is still a significant danger of wildfires in many of the state’s valleys, foothills, mountains, and desert regions. Sunday and Monday were predicted to be the warmest days.
Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, meanwhile, issued a state of emergency on Wednesday to boost power generation and advised citizens to consume less energy as authorities warned that outages would occur if the situation becomes worse.
Following a “Flex Alert” by the California Independent System Operator urging conservation that was extended into Thursday, Newsom made his announcement.
Expected temperature increases of 10 to 20 degrees have strained power supply and increased energy consumption, largely from air conditioning usage.
The Labor Day weekend may see further warnings, according to authorities.
This summer, there have been several wildfires in the Western states. In Siskyou County, close to the Oregon border, a fire that would become the worst and deadliest in California this year, broke out in late July.
Four people were murdered, and a large portion of the little town of Klamath River was destroyed.
According to scientists, the West has been warmer and drier over the last three decades due to climate change, and this trend will continue to increase weather extremes and the frequency and destructiveness of wildfires.
The American West is now experiencing the driest period in at least 1,200 years due to a 22-year megadrought that became so bad in 2021.