Anamika Dey, editor
Brief news
- Wildfires are raging on both coasts of the U.S., fueled by extreme drought conditions and high winds, with significant damage reported in New Jersey and California.
- The Mountain Fire in Ventura County has burned over 20,000 acres, while New Jersey faces multiple fires due to unprecedented drought.
- Firefighters are struggling to contain the blazes, with injuries reported and one fatality in New York, highlighting the growing year-round wildfire threat.
Detailed news
Wildland fires were being fought by firefighters on both coasts on Monday. This comes after hundreds of acres were burned in New Jersey due to a drought that has never been seen before, and after high winds caused a fire to rage across Ventura County, California, at the beginning of the week.
The fires that occurred in the late season, which occurred only a few weeks before the Thanksgiving break, serve as a warning that wildfires are rapidly becoming a threat that occurs throughout the whole year in the United States.
According to CAL Fire, the state organization responsible for fire prevention, the so-called Mountain Fire in Ventura County, California, had expanded to 20,630 acres, which is equivalent to 32 square miles, and was only 36% controlled as of Monday evening. Over two thousand eight hundred personnel were trying to put out the fire, which has caused damage or destruction to roughly two hundred and fifty buildings since it began on Wednesday.
Tony McHale, a captain with the Ventura County Fire Department, stated that the fire was originally propelled by the legendary Santa Ana winds, which clocked in at sixty miles per hour and gusted up to eighty miles per hour.
“It’s like trying to put a blowtorch out with a squirt gun,” McHale added, referring to the current conditions, which are extremely difficult.
Six individuals have sustained injuries.
Taking advantage of good weather, fire teams worked throughout the night and into Monday morning to construct a containment line around the fire. The forecasters anticipated that a cold front would move into the region on Monday night, which would not only cause an increase in the humidity levels but also bring about some gusts.
Nearly 2,500 miles away, in the states of New York and New Jersey, a number of fires were raging in the inhospitable terrain that had been scorched by the drought.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, three counties in the state of New Jersey are suffering “extreme” drought, while the remainder of the state is facing severe or moderate drought conditions.
“We are experiencing a dry spell that has never been seen before, and we are currently in historical numbers for our critical fuels, or the forest floor being dried out, and we are seeing things that we haven’t seen in quite some time here in New Jersey,” Chris Franek, who is a member of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, stated during a news conference on Monday.
As a result of the fires in the Northeast, at least one person has lost their life: While working to put out a fire in Sterling Forest, which is located in Orange County, New York, Dariel Vasquez, who was 18 years old and employed by the New York Parks Department, was murdered on Saturday by a tree that fell on him. Ramapo High School was going to have a memorial ceremony on Monday, according to the calendar.
There was a wildfire known as Jennings Creek that was burning in Passaic County, New Jersey, as well as in Orange County, New York State, which is located over the border. According to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, the fire had spread to 3,500 acres, which is equivalent to around 4.6 square miles, and it was only twenty percent controlled as of Monday afternoon. There were at least eleven buildings that were at danger.
Although there was barely a quarter of an inch of rain that dropped over the fire overnight on Sunday, the authorities stated that it was sufficient to provide a rest for the fire men yet it was not sufficient to put out the fire.
That is not going to end up being the solution to the problem that we are facing with this wildfire. During a press conference held on Sunday, the Chief of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, Bill Donnelly, stated that it is unavoidable that this fire will continue to burn up until it reaches our control line.
His statement indicated that the fire will most likely continue to burn until the end of this week, which is when the service anticipates being able to secure its control lines and bring the fire under control.
Residents living in the vicinity of the fire were advised to voluntarily leave their homes on Sunday night by officials in Warwick, New York.
A total of twelve homeowners were forced to leave their homes. “We were fortunate enough to be able to contain the fire,” stated Peter Cirigliano, the commissioner for emergency services in Orange County, during a news conference on Monday morning. He also said that none of the properties involved in the fire were destroyed.
According to Jesse Dwyer, the town supervisor, the fire should be considered “one of the worst natural disasters” that Warwick has ever seen. “The threat to life and property could really take a turn for the worse if things turn south,” he added. “Life and property could be in danger.”
As a precautionary measure, the power was turned off in Greenwood Lake Village, which is located east of Warwick, on Sunday night. Additionally, the American Red Cross established a shelter in the area.
Since the first of October, Donnelly stated that his crews had been dispatched to 537 complaints of wildfires in the state of New Jersey alone. During the same time period, agencies in the state of New York had reacted to sixty other wildfires.
Burlington County has been experiencing a fire that has been burning since July 5th, according to Donnelly.
At the same time as a cold front was moving in, the National Weather Service issued a warning that gusts of up to 35 miles per hour might scream across the region on Tuesday.
“There is an increased risk for fire spread on Tuesday,” the agency noted in a detailed warning that was released on Tuesday. In the event that any flames do break out, the conditions will be favorable for their spread, which may make it extremely challenging to contain them.
Source: CNBC news
