Hot, dry winds fed furious flames in Western states in recent days, as raging wildfires jumped containment lines to torch houses in California and Colorado.
The weather was a major factor in California’s infernoes, reported The New York Times (see: “Record Heat in Southern California, and an Ominous Start to Wildfire Season,” by Tim Arango). “In Santa Barbara County, nearly two dozen homes were incinerated in a wildfire,” the paper reported, “once again harrowing an area ravaged in the last year by fires and then mudslides that killed 21 people… The scenes across the region underscored worries among officials and scientists that fire season would come earlier to California this year, amid drought conditions, raising worries of a destructive season ahead.”
In Colorado, a blaze dubbed the “Spring Creek fire” destroyed more than 200 houses, as a sudden shift of wind surprised firefighters and pushed the flames across a valley into a wooded subdivision. The Denver Post had this report on July 5 (see: “Spring Creek fire ‘tsunami’ sweeps over subdivision, raising home toll to 251,” by Kirk Mitchell).
“Since the fire was ignited by a man cooking in a fire pit on June 27, wind currents out of the southwest have been mostly pushing the north end of the 100,000-acre-plus wildfire in a northeasterly direction,” the paper reported. “But a cold front swept in overnight turning the fire 180 degrees. It was a good thing for homes on the eastern flank, but an absolutely devastating turn of events for neighborhoods and pine forests on the western flank.”
“Officials say the total number of damaged homes stands at 119 and the number of demolished homes is 132, although authorities know those figures are a small percentage of the affected homes,” the paper reported. “Dangerous conditions have made it too difficult for county officials to go into neighborhoods and count how many homes have been damaged or destroyed. Tallies are expected to rise significantly.”
