Status: 07/20/2021 7:48 p.m.
The plumes of smoke reach as far as New York, 4,000 kilometers away: The forest fires in the northwest of the USA are spreading further. Extreme heat, drought and wind make work more difficult for the fire fighters.
Clouds of smoke from violent forest fires in the northwest of the USA cloud the prospects on the east coast, which is almost 4,000 kilometers away. In big cities like New York, a hazy veil pushed up against the sun, and authorities warned of bad air in Philadelphia as well. The effects of the seasonal fires in the states of Washington, Oregon or Montana on the west coast were also felt in the federal capital Washington DC, Chicago and parts of Canada.
Heat, drought, wind
In extreme weather conditions, the forest fires in the state of Oregon expand even further: the flames of the so-called bootleg fire have so far covered an area of almost 1,500 square kilometers. Heat, drought, wind and the threat of lightning strikes made it difficult for the fire fighters to work. The affected Fremont-Winema National Forest and Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest southeast and southwest of Portland are sparsely populated.
2,000 apartments evacuated, 5,000 at risk
A researcher at Oregon State University, James Johnston, said that if a forest fire of this size occurred in densely populated areas of California, “it would have destroyed thousands of homes by now.” So far 2,000 apartments have been evacuated, 5,000 more were at risk. So far, 70 houses and 100 outbuildings have been robbed by the flames.