Evacuations in California and Oregon as Destructive Fire Outbreak Engulfs Three States

[Meatpie]

Latest NASA satellite view in true color shows vast regions of the Western USA are covered in thick smoke.

An unusually expansive outbreak of large and fast-moving wildfires threatens communities in three states Wednesday, with the greatest risks focused on Medford, Ore., and Oroville, Calif., as large fires advance in those areas.

In Oregon on Wednesday afternoon, Gov. Kate Brown (D) announced that four towns have experienced significant damage, and she warned residents to expect news of fatalities.
“Oregon has experienced unprecedented fire with significant damage and devastating consequences for the entire state,” she said. Brown said the communities of Detroit, Blue River, Vida, Phoenix and Talent are “substantially destroyed."
“Hundreds of homes have been lost."

The partial evacuation in Medford, which took place Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, was prompted by one of many new blazes that started Monday and Tuesday.

The wildfires come after a record-shattering heat wave and amid human-caused climate change that is heightening fire risks, along with temperatures, in the West. These blazes are being driven by strong, dry, offshore winds that are causing extreme fire behavior, which can produce everything from mushroom cloud-like plumes of smoke that reach 40,000 feet in height, to vortexes that make it impossible for firefighters to contain an advancing fire.

More on this here

More updates soon. If you are in the affected regions you are welcome to share photos, videos and live updates.

Stay safe and we hope the situaiton will start to improve in the next couple of days. We are aware we have lots of members in the affected area.

 

[Meatpie]

Apocalyptic red orange sky from the smoke and fires - San Francisco Bay Area, California

 

[Meatpie]

San Francisco Bay Area on Wednesday morning.

 

[Meatpie]

Wild weather this year shows growing impact of climate change, scientists say

Wild weather this year shows growing impact of climate change, scientists say

The planet is showing signs it's in peril. In recent weeks, the world has seen ferocious wildfires in the U.S. West, torrential rains in Africa, weirdly warm temperatures on the surface of tropical oceans, and record heat waves from California to the Siberian Arctic.

www.reuters.com

 

[Meatpie]

Idaho: 13 homes burn near Orofino

In Idaho, the Idaho State Fire Marshal’s Office said on Facebook that 13 homes were destroyed along with 31 other structures and 26 vehicles near the north-central Idaho town of Orofino. The culprit was a fast-moving complex of smaller wildfires covering more than 1,600 acres.

The County Commissioners Office said a landslide along a local highway took out power lines, which may have sparked the fire. No official cause had been determined, however. No injuries or fatalities had been reported.

 

[callmecaleb]

The sky here in San Francisco is not so orange today, but still overcast with ash. My truck is coated with a thick coat of ash.

Am concerned about Oregon. We spend time every summer in the Ashland-Talant-Phoenix-Medford area and the Alameda Fire is taking a terrible toll up there.

 

[deaddirty]

The sky here in San Francisco is not so orange today, but still overcast with ash. My truck is coated with a thick coat of ash.

Am concerned about Oregon. We spend time every summer in the Ashland-Talant-Phoenix-Medford area and the Alameda Fire is taking a terrible toll up there.

Sorry to hear - at least it sounds as if your home area is safe. And as Meatpie has already said, best wishes to all members in the affected areas.

 

[Meatpie]

2020...end of the world photo award. People wearing protective masks walk on Stockton Street in the Chinatown district of San Francisco on Sept 9, 2020.

 

[Meatpie]

California wildfire grows to largest in state history

The August Complex fire, which has been burning since last month in northern California, is now officially the largest fire on record in the state’s history, officials said.

The California department of forestry and fire protection said the fire has scorched more than 736 square miles (1,906 square kilometers), centered in vast wilderness about 130 miles (209 kilometers) north of San Francisco, the AP reported. The fire began on 17 August as a series of three dozen separate blazes in the Mendocino national forest, which were sparked by thousands of lightning strikes.

The August Complex fire has destroyed 26 structures. The fire has surpassed the damage of the 2018 Mendocino Complex fire, which burned 717 square miles in the same region.

This is just one of many records that have been broken in this year’s devastating wildfires, and the season is far from over. Notably, more acres have burned in California wildfires this year than any other year on record.

 

[Meatpie]

The Bear Lakes Estates neighborhood in Phoenix, Ore., was reduced to rubble.

 

[Meatpie]

The town of Berry Creek was largely destroyed by wildfire.

 

[Meatpie]

San Francisco sky remains orange today as wildfires rage on across US West Coast

 

[Meatpie]

The future has arrived. These explosive fires are our climate change wakeup call | Peter Gleick

Scientists have been warning of the growing threat of climate change, and now those projections are a reality

www.theguardian.com

 

[Meatpie]

An orange smoke-filled sky is seen above Molalla, Oregon on Thursday as fires burn nearby.

 

[Meatpie]

Thousands of people are leaving Clackamas County, Oregon. Unfortunately traffic was so heavy many ended up stuck in their cars.

 

[Meatpie]

Smoke from the USA Wildfires Has Reached as Far Away as Moscow and Covers Most of Europe and Will Later Merge with the Smoke from the Siberia Fires

Good evening.

Here is NASA satellite view from today showing smoke over much of Europe and spreading all the way to Moscow and beyond merging with the smoke from the Siberian wildfires which have been burning for six months now. Over the next couple of days and weeks the entire Northern hemishphere will have smoke in the air.

 

[deaddirty]

Sky here has been a bit hazy over he last day or two, though I haven't seen anything orange thank God - you don't know what or who might drop from the sky when the jet stream is blowing straight from Washington

Wildfires in California caused the skies over Britain to change colour

Some updates on what's going on in the US:

Western wildfires rage in California, Oregon and Washington – in pictures

More than 85 significant wildfires are burning across the west, where a record 2.5m acres have been destroyed in the latest batch of blazes

www.theguardian.com

Fire crews in Oregon and California fight blazes as officials warn of further deaths

Lighter winds and rising humidity help firefighters’ efforts but governor says dozens still missing and tens of thousands forced to flee

www.theguardian.com

'I've never been so afraid': Oregon fire evacuees face unrecognizable landscape

Clackamas county residents gathered in cars and tents describe destruction but also moments of kindness

www.theguardian.com

'Unprecedented': the US west's wildfire catastrophe explained

The climate crisis and fire suppression underlie the disaster. Addressing it means altering society’s relationship to the land

www.theguardian.com

And live updates:

US wildfires: more than 20 believed to have died as fires rage on west coast – as it happened

Oregon, California and Washington fight historic fires as California makes urgent appeal for climate action – follow all the latest developments

www.theguardian.com

 

[callmecaleb]

Thanks to our President's policies (or lack thereof), our skies are now the color of his hair. Yuck!