Evacuation orders are in effect across parts of the Western U.S. and Southwest Canada as extremely hot and dry conditions intensify wildfire activity. Authorities report 183 new fires, including eight large ones, since Saturday, with over 30,000 personnel and 640 crews deployed to battle blazes nationwide.
In Utah, nearly a dozen active wildfires have burned more than 300,000 acres, including the Rocky Canyon Fire, which grew to 2,800 acres since Friday and remains 0% contained, prompting evacuations in Morgan County. The Widemouth 2 Fire, now the state’s largest at 118,000 acres, is 27% contained, while the Babylon Fire has scorched 107,000 acres. Two pilots died Friday when their helicopter crashed while battling the Widemouth 2 Fire, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox mourned their deaths in a social media statement, saying, “They put themselves in harm’s way to protect our state and gave their lives in that service.”
In the Spokane, Wash., area, at least 60,000 people have been evacuated as firefighters work to contain multiple blazes burning over 10,000 acres. Local fire officials reported exceptional progress Sunday, though containment efforts remain ongoing. A bulldozer operator, Jason Ensign, died battling the Wrights Spring Fire in Oregon, which has spread across 33,000 acres and is 0% contained.
Smoke from Canadian wildfires is also affecting air quality in the U.S., with officials warning that smoke from some of the largest blazes can travel hundreds of miles across the border. The British Columbia Wildfire Service declared a provincial state of emergency after the Bald Range wildfire forced over 20,000 evacuations in the Summerland and Peachland regions. The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued air quality alerts for 14 states, including Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado, with some areas experiencing unhealthy or very unhealthy levels of fine particulate pollution.
Large fires are also burning in Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Colorado, with officials warning that hot, dry, and windy conditions continue to fuel the spread. The National Interagency Fire Center reports 94 large fires actively burning across the country as of Sunday, with containment efforts ongoing amid challenging weather conditions.