LOS ANGELES — Firefighters across California geared up for a scorching day on Tuesday to battle blazes that tore dry bushes and grass like craters.
As of Tuesday morning, the blaze, known as the Fairview Fire, has burned about 2,400 acres and affected about 12,000 people in and around Hemet, a small city about 85 miles southeast of Los Angeles in Riverside County, prompting an evacuation order. urged.Hemet Unified School District Closed school for 24,000 students on Tuesday.
Isaac Sanchez, spokesman for Cal Fire, the state fire agency, said from Hemett:
The Mill fire — the explosive blaze that hit the northern California town of Weed and killed two people — was more than half contained as of Tuesday morning, but fires nearby Forest fireThe 11,690-acre fire, the largest in the state, continued to burn across rural Siskiyou County.
of radford fireAn eruption that erupted near the Big Bear ski and lake resort on Monday expanded to about 450 acres and issued an evacuation order.
The record-breaking temperatures brought to the west by the heat dome have left Californians sweating and having to go home with air conditioning. For firefighters, sweltering temperatures magnify the hazards of an already difficult job. When hiking dangerous terrain, the crew must carry heavy equipment and wear protective clothing.
As a result, firefighters have to take frequent breaks, and if multiple dangerous fires erupt at once, the formation can become thin. Last week, Los Angeles County officials said seven firefighters were treated for heat injuries while fighting the route’s fire, which was largely extinguished as of Tuesday.
Fire officials said the lingering wave of extreme heat hitting California was worrying as it ensured vegetation depleted by the drought in the west was ready to burn.
“It essentially preheats the fuel,” Sanchez said.
In many ways, this year’s wildfire season is less intense than previous years. For example, last year’s Dixie fire burned more than 963,000 acres, making it the second-largest fire in the state on record. It started in July. Over the course of the year, massive fires consumed more than 2.5 million acres of her in California. By contrast, so far in 2022 he has burned only 241,074 acres.
Still, Sanchez said the outlook could change quickly, with climate change lengthening the fire season, fires often getting hotter and out of control, and destroying homes built on once-rough land. Destroyed.
“Every time we have a heat wave, we look forward to it ending,” he said.
A small fire in just 23 acres (23 acres) broke out in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains Tuesday morning.Initially, Placer County officials warned the campers With a handful of places to evacuate. A few hours later, that warning became an order.