SAN FRANCISCO — Wildfires fueled by strong winds and an extended heat wave have resulted in the first fatality in California during the 2024 fire season. Simultaneously, wind-driven flames in Arizona have forced hundreds to evacuate what tribal leaders are describing as the “most serious” wildfire on their reservation in decades.
These fires are developing as authorities in Western states warn of the growing risk of wildfires amid this month’s prolonged heat wave. The heat wave has dried out the landscape, set temperature records, and put lives in danger. In eastern California and Nevada, the parched conditions have prompted officials to increase staffing to better monitor “deteriorating conditions forecasted for this weekend,” the Humboldt–Toiyabe National Forest announced Friday.
California’s first fire season fatality was reported after Mendocino County officials discovered human remains in a home that burned in a fire that began on Monday. The coroner’s office is working to identify the body, but it may be that of a 66-year-old woman whose family reported her missing.
There have been other wildfire deaths in the West this season, including three people who perished in New Mexico’s Ruidoso blaze.
In Arizona, over 400 residents on the San Carlos Apache Reservation were ordered to evacuate after a wildfire spread into the downtown area on Thursday, destroying at least 13 homes, officials said.
No injuries or deaths have been reported. However, the tribe’s chairman, Terry Rambler, labeled it the “most serious structural fire” on the reservation in decades.
Officials suspect arson in the fire, which has burned approximately 2 square miles (5.2 square kilometers) and remains at 0% containment. Tribal leaders have declared a state of emergency on the reservation.
“We have never experienced anything like this,” Rambler stated Friday in a statement.
Patrick J. Victor started recording as the fire erupted around his home Thursday afternoon. His videos depicted a dark sky over his neighborhood, wind whipping and carrying black smoke across the sky as his neighbor’s property went up in flames.
“It looks like the fire pits of hell,” he said while navigating through thick brush.
Victor, 39, shared on Friday that he continuously prayed for rain as walls of fire shot up and over the thick line of trees in his neighborhood. However, the rain never arrived.
While his family’s home remained untouched, Victor expressed devastation for his community.
“Some of these houses are second- and third-generation homes,” he told The Associated Press.
Meanwhile, California’s top fire official revealed this week that the state has responded to over 3,500 wildfires this year, which have scorched nearly 325 square miles (842 square kilometers) — five times the average burned through July 10 in each of the past five years.
“We are not just in a fire season, but we are in a fire year,” Joe Tyler, director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, stated. “Our winds and the recent heat wave have exacerbated the issue, consuming thousands of acres. So we need to be extra cautious.”
California crews working in scorching temperatures and single-digit humidity were engaged in battling numerous wildfires, including a persistent 53-square-mile (137-square-kilometer) blaze that prompted evacuation orders for approximately 200 homes in the mountains of Santa Barbara County northwest of Los Angeles.
California’s fires began in earnest in early June, following back-to-back wet winters that lifted the state out of drought but generated abundant grasses that have since dried out. A June blitz of lightning ignited some of the fires, a risk that might return with thunderstorms in the Sierra Nevada this weekend, forecasters said.
The deadly Mina Fire in Mendocino County, about 180 miles (290 kilometers) north of San Francisco, ignited Monday afternoon, likely due to a burn pile on a property that escaped and spread. The deceased 66-year-old woman was last seen on the property attempting to protect her home with a garden hose, county officials reported.
The fire had burned about 0.15 square miles (0.4 square kilometers) as of Friday and was 70% contained.
Officials throughout the West — including in Oregon, Nevada, and Washington state — have imposed burn bans and other restrictions to prevent sparks. Campfires, operating chainsaws, and target shooting are prohibited in most areas.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek declared a state of emergency through September.
“Throughout the summer, it will inevitably get hotter and drier, presenting an even greater risk of catastrophic wildfires,” Kotek stated in a statement. “The best way to limit wildfire impacts on our communities, natural areas, and first responders is to be aware of the conditions and prevent wildfires from starting.”
The declaration enables the state to deploy additional resources to communities in need.
A fire that started Thursday in eastern Oregon had burned over 115 square miles (298 square kilometers) as of Friday and was posing a threat to a few dozen homes in the Brogan area, officials said.
In Hawaii, Haleakala National Park on Maui was closed as firefighters battled a blaze on the slopes of the mountain. Visitors in over 150 vehicles that had ascended Wednesday for the famous sunset views were unable to descend until around 4 a.m. Thursday because the narrow roads were blocked by fire crews.
More than 78 million people around the U.S. remained under heat alerts Friday — a substantial reduction from earlier in the week. However, forecasters anticipated some relief from the heat by the weekend.
The U.S. heat wave coincided with a record-warm June globally, marking the 13th straight month of record warmth. June was the 12th consecutive month that the world was 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than pre-industrial times, according to the European climate service Copernicus. Scientists attribute most of this heat, trapped by human-induced climate change, to long-term warming from greenhouse gases released by the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas.