(Newswire.net— September 10, 2020) — Uncontrolled forest fires are raging in the west of America, the town of Malden was destroyed in a fire, carried by strong winds and with record high temperatures, and local communities in Oregon and California are also endangered.
The Malden fire is one of several dozen wildfires raging in Washington, Oregon, and California, while temperatures in the west of the San Fernando Valley near Los Angeles have reached 122 degrees.
In California on Tuesday, 14 firefighters were forced to deploy emergency shelters as flames overtook them and destroyed the Nacimiento Station, a fire station in the Los Padres National Forest on the state’s central coast, the US Forest Service said, S&S Observer reports.
In California, about 14,000 firefighters are battling 25 fires, which have engulfed 890,308 acres, the Forest Administration said.
The National Weather Service issued a statement on Wednesday, saying that “The significantly colder airmass is helping to reduce critical fire conditions across the west, however most of west coastline and adjacent counties have Red Flag warnings in effect for part of today.”
Electricity distributors have preventively cut off supplies in 22 districts to prevent sparks from power lines causing new fires.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency for the cities of Fresno, Madeira, Mariposa, San Bernardino, and San Diego, and the National Parks Administration has temporarily closed three national parks.
Local television in Oregon reported that some settlements were evacuated and that the beginning of the school year was postponed because fires threatened houses.
In Oregon, about 100,000 households were left without electricity due to strong winds and fire.
California was hit by a heatwave in mid-August when a record temperature of 125 degrees in the shade was measured in Death Valley, which is among the highest temperatures ever measured on Earth.