Thousands of firefighters were trying Saturday, July 17 to contain the fires which, in a dry, hot and electric climate, consumed the American and Canadian West, where the means of fighting the fire could quickly be overwhelmed.
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Nearly 18,000 firefighters were deployed in the United States, where 70 large blazes have already burned 4000 km2, or about 40 times the area of Paris, according to the latest reports. The most devastating, the Bootleg Fire in the state of Oregon alone accounts for a quarter of the damage and remains largely out of control despite the efforts of 2,100 fire troopers. As in the whole area, it is progressing quickly "
because of the heatwave, the drought and the wind
", conditions which should continue "for
several days
", according to the InciWeb claims monitoring site.
Dozens of homes were destroyed by this blaze and at least 2,000 people evacuated. "
There was smoke everywhere, we went from daylight to almost total night
," Debra Booth told AFP who just had time to board her two dogs before fleeing her home in emergency.
The fire is progressing so quickly that in some areas firefighters have had to withdraw, operations manager Holly Krake said as quoted by local newspaper The Oregonian.
“
So far we have the resources we need, but they are limited,
” said Holly Krake.
"
And we do not see the end of the extreme climatic conditions which are responsible for the fires and the Bootleg Fire
", she underlined.
California, which is also burning, but to a lesser extent so far, has promised to send reinforcements to help Oregon.
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The situation could worsen further, with dry thunderstorms forecast for Sunday and Monday.
Without rain, but with lightning, they are especially dangerous in areas where drought is rife.
According to experts, global warming is accentuating extreme phenomena, such as the insane temperatures and the ongoing drought in the western United States, but also in Canada.
On the north side of the border, more than 300 wildfires remained active Saturday in the province of British Columbia alone.
And, this time, it was Mexico that pledged its help, in this case sending 100 firefighters.
More than 50 evacuation alerts for 10,000 residences have been issued by Canadian authorities.
In the United States, the Department of Homeland Security has been keen to reassure undocumented migrants who may need to go to shelters. Immigration police will not make arrests "
in places where there is relief in place,
" according to a statement.