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Another heat wave is roasting the West, driving exploding wildfires that are impacting the region with smoke and causing evacuations and power shortages.
This third heat wave to sweep the West this year is the result of the same "heat dome" that recently scorched the Northwest, leading to nearly 200 deaths in Oregon and Washington State. Researchers have stated that the Pacific Northwest heat dome would have been all but impossible without climate change. Over 31 million people are now under excessive heat warnings or heat advisories, and tourists across the West are being urged to prepare for high heat.
The heat wave drove a temperature of 130 degrees in Death Valley on Friday, which, if confirmed, would be the hottest recorded temperature there since 1913. The previous high, although disputed, is considered the highest measured temperature on Earth. The high temperatures are helping drive a latest crop of rapidly expanding Western wildfires, which were burning across more than 768,000 acres of land in 12 Western U.S. states, and over 500,000 acres in Canada on Sunday.
In Colorado, extreme fire behavior north of Steamboat Springs has prompted forest closures and drawn attention to the lack of firefighting staff in the West: none of the Forest Service workers battling Colorado fires are actually firefighters on paper—their job titles are forestry or range technicians, which come with significantly lower pay. Nationally, the federal firefighting force faces staffing shortages and low morale.
In Oregon, the Bootleg Fire has knocked out three interstate transmission lines, straining electrical supplies in northern California, where residents were asked to reduce power consumption. "The fire behavior we are seeing on the Bootleg Fire is among the most extreme you can find and firefighters are seeing conditions they have never seen before," fire incident commander Al Lawson said.
The Beckwourth Fire Complex in nearby northern California more than doubled in size from Friday to Saturday, sending up a massive cloud of smoke and ash that, combined with the dry heat, generated its own lightning and created dangerous weather conditions for firefighters. So-called pyrocumulonimbus clouds can, in turn, make the fire spread even faster—in addition to lightning, they can create erratic, ember-spitting winds.
In Idaho, Gov. Brad Little declared a wildfire emergency Friday and mobilized the state’s National Guard to help fight fires sparked after lightning storms swept across the drought-stricken region. Meanwhile, two firefighters died in a plane crash while surveying a blaze in Arizona.
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This is where the Antiquities Act can play a crucial role for Nevada. The Biden administration must use it to designate Avi Kwa Ame Nevada’s fourth national monument. It is the right thing to do."
