In the northwest of the USA, the fires known as “bootleg fires” continue to rage and have now taken up an area of around 1,100 square kilometers. That is significantly larger than New York City and is almost three times the area of Vienna. About 5,000 houses are at risk from the flames, said the forest authority of the US state of Oregon. 21 houses have already been destroyed, only around 22 percent of the fire are currently under control, it said.
Among other things, heat, winds and extreme drought have contributed to its dimensions, symptoms of the climate crisis, according to scientists. The “bootleg fire” has its center about 350 kilometers southeast of Portland and Vancouver.
State of emergency in California
The western United States and southwestern Canada had suffered from intense heat in the past few days. In Death Valley, more than 53 degrees Celsius had been measured last Sunday, in Las Vegas the thermometer rose to over 45 degrees Celsius. California Governor Gavin Newsom had already declared a state of emergency late last week because of the effects of the fire on the energy supply and because of the extreme heat.
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