HORNBROOK, CA — A deadly blaze on the Oregon-California border that claimed one life grew to over 9,000 acres on Saturday as firefighters across the western United States battled wildfires in 13 states. Dozens of fires have destroyed dozens of homes and forced the evacuation of thousands of people.
The civilian fatality in the blaze was announced on Friday by California fire authorities and is the latest death of the wildfire season; two people were reportedly killed by an Oklahoma wildfire in April. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire) announced the death Friday just before 9:30 a.m. pacific time, but provided no additional details pending next of kin notification.
The deadly Northern California border fire in Siskiyou County, dubbed the Klamathon Fire, had grown to 9,200 acres and was only 5 percent contained by Saturday, according to CalFire. The fire began just after noon on Thursday and grew to more than 5,000 acres within hours.
Late on Thursday, California Gov. Jerry Brown declared a State of Emergency in Siskiyou County due to the destruction and chaos caused by the growing Klamathon Fire.
The Klamathon Fire forced the overnight closure of busy Interstate-5 between Ashland and Yreka as California firefighters and emergency responders worked quickly to evacuate residents from the area around Hornbrook and Hilt, California. A handful of nearby rural highways connecting Oregon and California were also closed.
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Around 6:30 a.m. local time Friday, the Oregon Department of Transportation announced CalFire was reopening I-5 and escorting travelers through the smokey burn zone with help from Oregon State Police and the California Highway Patrol.
I-5 was opened completely in both directions without the need for escorts about three hours later, though state transportation officials told travelers to expect considerable delays as dense, slow-moving traffic crawled through the burn zone.
See also:
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The Klamathon Fire is just one of about 60 wildfires currently burning across the West and Alaska.
Colorado is currently reporting 10 active wildfires within the state and one more on the Wyoming side of the border. The Spring Creek Fire, east of Alamosa, Colorado, is the largest currently active fire in the state and the third-largest on record.
As of Friday afternoon, that blaze, Spring Creek Fire, had burned more than 105,000 acres (or 161 square miles), destroyed 100 homes, and forced the evacuations of 2,000 others. InciWeb reported the fire was only 35 percent contained Friday as night approached.
Fires in Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, and Arizona have also been reported.
The largest in Nevada, the Martin Fire, has burned 22,000 acres and was only 2 percent contained. The largest in Utah, the Dollar Ridge Fire, has burned more than 47,000 acres and was only 4 percent contained.
According to USA Today, wildfires this year have already torched more than 4,500 square miles — roughly 700 square miles above average for this time of year. And based on current weather forecasts, which predict increasing temperatures due to a dome of high pressure over the West, conditions aren’t likely to improve any time soon.
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Image via Oregon Department of Transportation