Ron Brackett and Jan Wesner Childs
Residents in several states have been ordered to evacuate due to wildfires as a blistering, record-breaking heat wave and extreme drought persist in the western United States.
At least 28 large fires are burning over more than 640 square miles in eight western states, according to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC).
The biggest current burn area is in Arizona, where seven fires were burning more than 422 square miles as of Thursday morning.
Meanwhile, new evacuations were ordered Wednesday in Montana. Residents of some communities near Red Lodge, south of Yellowstone National Park, were told to leave their homes immediately, while others were under warnings for potential evacuations, according to a social media post from the Custer Gallatin National Forest.
(MORE: Heat Dome to Set Records in the West Much of This Week)
A helicopter helping fight a different Montana wildfire crashed Tuesday night but the crew was safely rescued, the Independent Record reported.
The wildfires come amid record-breaking temperatures rising well above 100 degrees in many locations this week. The National Weather Service has issued heat alerts from parts of the Southwest into the Great Basin and California.
The heat combined with the extreme dryness is making conditions ripe for dangerous wildfires.
About 89% of the West is facing drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. More than half of the western U.S. is in the two highest categories of drought: extreme and exceptional.
Much of the region is also facing an above-average potential for wildfires through at least June and July.
Here is a look at some of the larger fires burning today.
Montana
An unknown number of structures have been destroyed in the Deep Canyon Fire burning east of Townsend, according to Inciweb.
The helicopter that went down was carrying five crew members responding to the blaze. Officials said the aircraft caught on fire after a "hard landing."
Evacuations were issued for the Grassy Mountain subdivision.
Firefighters had to pull back from the blaze and take refuge in safety zones when it began moving so fast and became so hot that it posed a threat to their safety, Erin Fryer with the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest told the Associated Press.
The fire had burned about 7 square miles.
The Robertson Draw Fire had burned more than 32 square miles as of Thursday morning. Firefighters anticipated additional growth due to the weather conditions.
The fire is burning south of the tourist town of Red Lodge near the Wyoming state line.
The fire's explosive growth Tuesday prompted a rapid evacuation of hundreds of houses in its path, fire spokesperson Amy Hyfield told the AP.
The blaze was threatening 450 homes and hundreds of other buildings and infrastructure.
Arizona
People in the Graham County community of Aravaipa in the southeast part of Arizona were told to be ready to leave their homes. A blaze named the Pinnacle Fire has burned more than 27 square miles and was 0% contained, according to an update posted Thursday morning.
Residents of three Arizona communities remained under evacuation orders due to the Telegraph Fire, burning in the eastern part of the state in Gila County. The evacuations included about 60 households, the AP reported.
The blaze, burning since June 4, has consumed more than 267 square miles, according to an update Thursday morning. Containment is at 72%.
The fire has burned 22 structures. It also moved up to the seventh spot on the list of the largest wildfires in Arizona history, according to KTAR-TV, and is the largest fire burning in the state right now.
KNXV-TV reported that 10 firefighters had sustained minor injuries, such as bee stings and a sprained ankle. One was treated for a heat-related illness.
Firefighters had the upper hand on the much smaller Cornville Fire burning north of Phoenix in Yavapai County. The blaze was 74% contained and there were no evacuation orders as of Tuesday night, according to Inciweb.
The fires are among several blazes currently burning in Arizona, according to the NIFC. Altogether this year, 848 fires have burned more than 325 square miles in Arizona, according to the state Department of Forestry and Fire Management. Last year by this time, 907 fires had burned 216 square miles.
California
At least eight homes were damaged by a fire Tuesday night in Vallejo County, KPIX-TV reported. Residents in the area of Skyline Drive were ordered to evacuate but have since been allowed to return home, according to the Vallejo Firefighters Association.
The blaze started as a vegetation fire behind several homes.
"There was already a ton of smoke coming out the front door," Cliff Campbell, Battalion Chief for Vallejo Fire Department, told KPIX describing the scene at the home of an elderly woman who was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation. The fire was extinquished on Wednesday, KPIX reported.
The Flats Fire, burning near the communities of Pinyon Crest, Pinyon and Alpine Village, was 85% contained as of Thursday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
At least two homes were destroyed and three were damaged in the fire, according to Inciweb.
Evacuation orders have been lifted and Highway 74, previously closed between State Road 371 near Garner Valley and Palowet Drive in Palm Desert, has reopened.
(MORE: Drought Drives Lake Mead to Its Lowest Water Level Since It Was Filled in the 1930s)
More than 3,400 wildfires have already destroyed or damaged 20 structures and burned nearly 30 square miles so far this year in California.
Utah
All evacuation orders have been lifted for the Bear Fire, which has burned more than 19 square miles northwest of Helper, about 90 miles southeast of Salt Lake City. The fire was 41% contained as of Thursday.
Officials warned that smoke from the Pack Creek Fire would continue to impact the surrounding communities of Moab and Spanish Valley over the next few days. Fires in Arizona, New Mexico and northern Mexico were also contributing to the hazy skies in the area. Residents in parts of San Juan County, south of Moab in Utah's southeast corner, had been ordered to evacuate on Sunday.
The blaze, which started last Wednesday because of an abandoned campfire, has burned more than 13 square miles, according to Utah Fire Info. It was 30% contained as of Thursday morning.
The Bennion Creek Fire, burning northwest of the Scofield Reservoir, has burned nearly 13 square miles and was 34% contained, according to the Wednesday morning update.
New Mexico
At least five fires are burning in New Mexico, down from eight. The largest is the Johnson Fire.
It has burned more than 114 square miles in the Gila Wilderness in the Gila National Forest, according to Inciweb. It is 11% contained.
The Gila National Forest and a large part of the Gila Wilderness have been closed to the public. The Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument is also closed.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
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