In a report issued Sunday, PG&E told the California Public Utilities Commission that on the day before the official start to the fire, a repairman responding to an outage saw what he called a “healthy green tree” leaning into a conductor with blown fuses, and a fire at the base of the tree. Pacific Gas & Electric, the nation’s largest utility – which has been repeatedly found responsible for the some of the biggest blazes, including the Camp fire – told California regulators in a report on Sunday that their equipment may again be to blame. The fire is north-east of the town of Paradise, California, and survivors of the horrific Camp fire that killed 85 people watched warily as the new blaze burned. The Dixie fire remained 15% contained and covered 29 sq miles. “Along with the above average temperatures, the combination of extreme drought, gusty winds, and dry lightning could make conditions ripe throughout the west for new wildfires to form and spread uncontrollably,” the agency said in a forecast issued Monday morning.Ī pyrocumulus cloud rises from the Bootleg fire as it continues to grow in size near Bly, Oregon, on Saturday. The National Weather Service has issued red flag warnings and fire weather watches from central California to northwest South Dakota. Officials are also concerned that dry lightning storms over California and the northern Great Basin could spark new fires. Thousands were ordered to evacuate, including nearly 2,000 who live in rugged terrain among lakes and wildlife refuges near the fire, which has burned at least 67 homes and 100 outbuildings.ĭespite the fire’s jaw-dropping size, the evacuations and property losses have been minimal compared with much smaller blazes in densely populated areas of California, offering a reminder that Oregon, which is larger than Britain, is still a largely rural state.Įxcessive heat has baked the desiccated region, intensifying drought conditions, complicating fire containment efforts and increasing the risks of new ignitions. Forest land burned by the Bootleg fire smolders in southern Oregon.
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