Saturday 17th July 2021
The day
Area of New York City: Huge forest fire in the US state of Oregon spreads
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While the flood disaster in western Germany has dominated the news in this country in the past few days, the western US continues to suffer from the consequences of an extreme heat wave. A growing forest fire has now forced firefighters in the US state of Oregon to retreat. The fire has raged in southern Oregon and for over a week has been declared the fifth largest fire in more than a century, announced forest officials. Known as the bootleg, the fire is the largest of the dozen forest fires that rage in the extremely arid landscape of the western United States.
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Meanwhile, the bootleg fire has a spread of more than 241,000 hectares and corresponds to the area of New York City. More than 1900 firefighters, a dozen helicopters, fire-fighting planes and excavators are on duty against the fire. So far, 21 houses and 54 other structures have fallen victim to the flames. 5000 more buildings are threatened, the Oregon forestry department announced.
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