Destructive wildfires have roared across California, threatening thousands of homes and displacing thousands more people. But it isn't the only state in the American northwest that's fighting the combustible mix of drought, heat and dangerously fire-prone topography. “The fire season hit very hard in the west, with multiple geographic areas burning at the same time,” said Kari Boyd-Peak, a representative of the National Interagency Fire Center.
In five western states, there are 15 large fires (defined by the Guardian as more than 50,000 acres in size) burning right now. A third of these are "megafires", an official term for fires that span more than 100,000 acres.
Here are the largest fires burning in the west today.*
California
The Valley and Butte fires — located northwest and southeast of Sacramento, respectively — are currently "the top priority fires in the nation," according to Boyd-Peak of the NIFC. The two blazes have scorched more than 140,000 acres and were responsible for widespread damage, as well as five deaths as of Friday. Another high-priority fire — the Rough — rages further south, in the Sierra Nevadas. While hard to contain, the blaze is less dangerous to people, Boyd-Peak said.
1 River Complex
76,990 acres
54 days active
55% contained
0 structures threatened
0 structures destroyed
2 Valley
76,660 acres
11 days active
40% contained
7,618 structures threatened
603 structures destroyed
3 Butte
70,752 acres
14 days active
60% contained
6,400 structures threatened
626 structures destroyed
4 Rough
141,353 acres
53 days active
68% contained
944 structures threatened
4 structures destroyed
Washington
In August, Washington state faced multiple fire emergencies — including one of the largest fires in the state’s history. Though several intense fires continue to burn, recent rainfall has dampened the damage.
1 Wolverine
65,508 acres
86 days active
35% contained
0 structures threatened
4 structures destroyed
2 Chelan Complex
89,094 acres
40 days active
98% contained
0 structures threatened
47 structures destroyed
3 Okanogan Complex
132,631 acres
40 days active
95% contained
0 structures threatened
152 structures destroyed
4 Tunk Block
165,864 acres
40 days active
92% contained
0 structures threatened
145 structures destroyed
5 North Star
217,554 acres
41 days active
85% contained
0 structures threatened
1 structures destroyed
6 Kettle North Complex
53,948 acres
43 days active
72% contained
0 structures threatened
1 structures destroyed
7 Carpenter Road
63,966 acres
39 days active
100% contained
405 structures threatened
42 structures destroyed
Oregon
After California, the Pacific Northwest region of Washington and Oregon is the highest priority for fire management, said Boyd-Peak. This fire season "happened all at once," she said, putting a strain on emergency responder resources. Earlier this summer, international fire crews were called in — from as far away as Australia and New Zealand — to help fight fires across the region.
1 County Line 2 Complex
67,207 acres
42 days active
100% contained
1,077 structures threatened
7 structures destroyed
2 Canyon Creek Complex
110,260 acres
42 days active
90% contained
39 structures threatened
53 structures destroyed
3 Grizzly Bear Complex
79,339 acres
41 days active
44% contained
75 structures threatened
35 structures destroyed
Idaho
1 Tepee Springs
95,708 acres
42 days active
85% contained
500 structures threatened
5 structures destroyed
Data source: National Interagency Fire Center via USGS. *All data is current as of Friday, 18 September 2015. Maps: © Mapbox © OpenStreetMap
Note: Alaska, where dozens more remote fires are still burning but "are not being managed for full suppression," according to Boyd-Peak, has been omitted from this analysis.
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