Oregon Wildfire: Bootleg Fire Burns Over 200K Acres, Becomes Biggest Blaze in U.S.
Oregon's Bootleg Fire continued to grow as it already charred roughly 201,923 acres, an area that is even larger than the size of New York City.
CBS News reported that the Bootleg Fire in Klamath County started on July 6, and it has grown exponentially in the past few days.
On Tuesday, July 13, officials said the Bootleg Fire is now the country's largest active fire. It was reportedly actively burning on the Fremont-Winema National Forest.
To date, the Bootleg Fire destroyed 21 homes and 54 structures. The Portland Fire and Rescue noted that the fight against the current biggest wildfire in the nation is just starting.
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Officials said the Bootleg Fire would continue to be "extremely active" in unchecked portions of the fire's perimeter.
It will be fueled by unstable air conditions, and well above normal temperatures, extremely high temperatures, and dry fuels. Fire officials estimated that the blaze would not be contained until around November.
On Monday, Oregon Governor Kate Brown implemented an emergency order that would allow her to mobilize resources and firefighters and rescuers from around the state to battle the blaze. The Bootleg Fire started from unknown causes.
Bootleg Fire Prompted Evacuations
As the wildfire continues to scorch acres of land, the Bootleg Fire prompted evacuations in several areas of Klamath County.
Level three evacuation were placed on Klamath County, north of the town of Beatty; east side of Godowa Springs Road north of OC and E Trail; and Klamath County near the town of Sprague River located at the upper tableland area north of Oregon Pines Road.
Level two evacuations were issued on the Klamath County Forest/Moccasin hills Area; Klamath County on the west side of Godowa Springs Road; and south of Oregon Pine Roads and Tableland Road to the river.
Meanwhile, the areas of Klamath County between the Beatty and Bly three miles south of Highway 140; and the area from the intersection of Sprague River Road Forbes Road stretching east to Godowa Springs and Yellow Jacket Springs have been given level one evacuation orders.
Apart from the Bootleg Fire, Oregon also faced other wildfires like the Jack Fire in Douglas County that charred 12,533 acres and is 15 percent contained, as of Tuesday, July 13.
Another fire called the Grandview Fire burned 5,723 acres of protected lands of the Oregon Department of Forestry and the Crooked River National Grassland. The Grandview Fire is five percent contained to date.
More Than 850,000 Acres of Land Burned by Western Wildfires
Oregon is not the only state that is experiencing wildfires. The western region of the U.S. recorded a total of more than 850,000 acres of land burned by the blaze across 12 states, NBC News reported.
The National Interagency Fire Center noted that more than 12,000 firefighters were deployed to control nearly 60 large fires wreaking havoc from Alaska to far mid-west Minnesota.
The states of Idaho, California, Arizona, and Montana were among the states with a large majority of the wildfires. Meanwhile, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and Washington also reported active fires in their areas.
To date, the Beckwourth Complex fire in California was accounted to burn more than 91,200 acres and was 26 percent contained by Monday evening, July 12.
This article is owned by Latin Post
Written by: Joshua Summers
WATCH: Oregon Bootleg Fire, Nation's Largest, Keeps Doubling in Size - From PBS NewsHour