LOS ANGELES, July 14 (Xinhua) -- Over 14,000 firefighters are currently battling more than 60 huge wildfires raging in the rural regions of U.S. Western states, the latest information updated by InciWeb, an interstate incident information system, showed Wednesday.
The Bootleg Fire in Klamath County, Oregon, is the nation's largest wildfire on Wednesday, spreading to 212,377 acres (859.5 square km), InciWeb said, warning that the fire would continue to be extremely active with unstable air conditions and extremely dry fuels in the coming days.
It was difficult for the 1,338 firefighters on the front lines to surpass the flame, InciWeb's report said. "Fire remains very active with significant acreage increases due to hot, dry, and breezy conditions. Poor humidity recovery at night is contributing to active fire spread through the night time period."
In Northern California, the Beckwourth Complex Wildfire, currently the largest fire in the state, scorched 95,358 acres with 71 percent containment as of Wednesday, InciWeb reported, saying the excessive heat up to 40 degrees centigrade would disappear from the day but temperatures could remain several degrees above what is normally expected at this time of year.
"Dry conditions continue with relative humidity lowering into the single digits in many areas," the reported noted, adding wind had increased since Tuesday night.
Down to the Sierra Nevada region of the Golden State, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said Wednesday that River Fire raging near Yosemite National Park had covered 9,500 acres and is 15 percent contained. Due to the blaze, Madera County declared a state of emergency.
"The extreme heat and winds have proven to be challenging for not only fire personnel, but those working to support those efforts," Sheriff Tyson Pogue told local ABC7 news channel. "This proclamation will provide much needed resources to support our community."
Another aggressive wildfire is Dixie Fire in Butte County, which was ignited around 5 p.m. local time Tuesday. By 8 a.m. Wednesday, it had grown to 500 acres and was 0 percent contained, and then by noon, it had more than doubled in size to 1,200 acres.
The Dixie Fire is not far from the site of 2018's devastating Camp Fire, which killed at least 85 people and reduced the town of Paradise to ashes.
On Wednesday morning, the Butte County Sheriff's Office issued evacuation warnings for Pulga and East Concow. Both towns suffered substantial damage in the 2018 fire.
According to Cal Fire, 4,991 wildfires have occurred in the state and burned down 142,477 acres of land this year.
