In California, at least 23 large fires are burning and 18 others are active but contained.
Mexican firefighters are lending a helping hand in California, battling the Sequoia Complex Fire. The state’s largest blaze started last month and has burned more than 144,000 acres.
Canadian fire crews are also in the U.S. helping fight flames in California and Oregon.
There has been a lot of finger pointing this year as the west burns. Democrats say that it is the result of climate change, and it will only get worse if the environmental regulations are loosened. Republicans blame bad forestry management by Democrats leading the western states.
At a House subcommittee hearing, the USDA’s Deputy Forestry Chief said that there were unintended consequences to how the land is being managed.
According to John Phipps, “We need to return, safely return fire to the landscape. The way we’re doing it now, it’s all well-intended, it’s just not a rampant enough pace right scale... the science literature would indicate that prescribed fire smoke... is much more benign than fire at the worst time of the year, in the summer... This event this year was just horrendous.”
Nearly 80,000 fires have burned 77 million acres, mostly in California, Oregon, and Washington.
Sadly, there does not appear to be any long-term relief for the situation. The latest drought monitor shows western dry conditions are expanding with little relief this fall. More than 50 percent of the states are experiencing severe to extreme dry conditions.