California, Nevada Wildfires Force Mass Evacuations
Amid a worsening heat wave in the Southwestern US, raging wildfires in California and Nevada forced the mandatory evacuation of at least 31K residents on Sunday....
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Facts
- Amid a worsening heat wave in the Southwestern US, raging wildfires in California and Nevada forced the mandatory evacuation of at least 31K residents on Sunday.[1][2]
- California's blaze, which began Thursday in the city of Highland near the San Bernardino Mountains, has so far ravaged more than 20K acres.[3]
- Meteorologists said the 'Line Fire' conflagration's intensity 'helped spawn its own thunderstorms' and lightning, stalling fire-fighting maneuvers.[4]
- Between 1996 and 2021, the area in northern and central California destroyed by summer wildfires reportedly rose fivefold compared to the 24 years before that.[5]
- Gov. Joe Lombardo has declared a state of emergency in Nevada after the wind-driven 'Davis Fire' remained 0% contained until late Sunday evening.[6]
- Aside from California and Nevada, the National Interagency Fire Center has also reported 23 large fires in Oregon, 19 in Idaho, 13 in Montana, and five in Wyoming.[1]
Sources: [1]Axios, [2]Washington Post, [3]CBS, [4]New York Post, [5]BBC News and [6]CNN.
Narratives
- Narrative A, as provided by Imperial News. In recent years, worsening climate change has become the spark igniting wildfires, transforming forests into tinderboxes. Studies indicate that human-induced warming has doubled the likelihood of fire-prone weather. Given that there is little progress in curbing the consumption of fossil fuels, wildfires will only grow more frequent and severe.
