Wednesday July 21, 2021
Forest fires in North America
Clouds of smoke reach New York City
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Huge forest fires continue to rage in the western United States. This also has consequences on the east coast, where a health alarm is called because of the air pollution in New York. Meanwhile, the situation in Canada is worsening because of the fires.
Smoke from forest fires in the western United States and Canada has shrouded the east coast metropolis of New York in a gray haze. The environmental agency of the state of New York issued a health alarm due to increased particulate matter pollution. A representative from the agency said it was not uncommon for smoke from fires in the west of the country to penetrate the region, but this time it was in a lower layer of air. The weather service predicted a cold front for Wednesday, which should put an end to the phenomenon.
Burned trees in the Fremont-Winema National Forest, Oregon.
(Foto: picture alliance/dpa/Bootleg Fire Incident Command/AP)
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Huge forest fires are raging again in the western United States. In the state of Oregon alone, a fire has so far destroyed more than 137,000 hectares of forest. Countless fires are also blazing in other states along the US west coast and in Canada. In the western Canadian province of British Columbia, more than 2,500 evacuations were ordered on Monday. There are now around 300 forest fires in the province. According to scientists, climate change is increasing the drought in the region, creating the conditions for fires to spread.
“Have reached a critical point”
In western Canada, the authorities have now declared a state of emergency. “We have reached a critical point,” said British Columbia Provincial Public Security Secretary Mike Farnworth. In emergency conditions, the authorities can order mass evacuations and set up protective devices for people who have been brought to safety.
On Tuesday, authorities ordered 5,700 more people to leave their homes because of the danger of the forest fires. Tens of thousands more were called upon to prepare for possible similar orders. “Please prepare an evacuation plan for your family”, appealed to the fire department chief Cliff Chapman to the people. The authorities expect the situation to worsen in the coming days – according to the weather forecasts, it should remain hot and dry. According to Chapman, around 3,000 square kilometers of land have already been burned – an area about three times the size of what is usual at this time of the year.
There are currently more than 80 major forest fires in the United States. Worst hit is the state of Oregon, where the emergency services are fighting the huge “bootleg” fire. The fire brigade operations manager Rob Allen described the major fire on Tuesday as a “monster”. Fighting this fire is “a marathon, not a sprint”.
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