By Shuchi Giridhar
New York, July 16: Seventy-one wildfires are currently burning over millions of acres of land across the states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming in the United States. The biggest of them is the Bootleg Fire in Oregon. It started on Tuesday, July 6th, and as of July 15th, it has burnt more than 200,000 acres with 5% containment. Many firefighting personnel have been deployed to the Bootleg Fire, which is burning in the Fremont Venema National Forest near the town of Sprague River and is affecting Lake and Klamath counties.
Red-flag warnings, for high fire danger, are in effect in south-central Oregon in the vicinity of the Bootleg Fire in southeastern Idaho and in large parts of Wyoming. Efforts are on to contain the active fires in other states and more than 17,000 firefighting personnel and support staff have been deployed for the containment efforts.
Wildfires are unplanned and unwanted fires that burn in natural habitats like forests, national parks, and camping sites. The wildfire season in the western US stretches from the start of spring until the seasonal winter, rains, and snow arrives. Researches state that the major percent of wildfires are caused by human interventions such as heavy usage of machines and unattended campfires. Another reason for wildfires is lightning.
