Extreme Heat, Dry Conditions Fuel California Wildfires

Several large wildfires are burning in California, where extreme heat and dry, windy conditions are fueling the flames.

Two of the three largest fires in state history are burning in the northern San Francisco Bay area. Reports say more than 14,000 firefighters are battling those fires and over 20 others across California.

The fire danger also is high in Southern California, where fires were burning in Los Angeles, San Bernardino and San Diego counties¹. The U.S. Forest Service closed all eight national forests in the area on Monday and shut down campgrounds around the state.

September and October are traditionally wildfire season in California. A record 809,000 hectares have burned this year. The previous record, set two years ago, included the deadliest wildfire in state history. That fire destroyed most of the community of Paradise² and killed 85 people.

Officials have blamed the record-breaking fires on electricity lines along with strong winds and dry conditions. To guard against new wildfires, California's biggest electricity provider now cuts power to areas with high-risk conditions. In recent days, power was cut to more than 172,000 homes in an effort to prevent new fires.

"The wildfire situation throughout California is dangerous and must be taken seriously," said Randy Moore, an official with the U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Region³.

"Existing fires are displaying extreme fire behavior, new fire starts are likely, weather conditions are worsening, and we simply do not have enough resources to fully⁴ fight and contain every fire," he added.

On Saturday, National Guard rescuers in two military helicopters airlifted 214 people to safety after flames trapped them in a wooded camping area near Mammoth⁵ Pool Reservoir⁶. The manmade lake is north of the city of Fresno. Twelve people were hospitalized, two of them with serious injuries.

Early Tuesday, California National Guard and Navy⁷ helicopters rescued another 13 people trapped in Fresno County⁸. The rescue flights had been delayed because of heavy smoke Monday night.

Lynne Tolmachoff is a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry⁹ and Fire Protection. She told The Associated Press it was "unnerving" to have already reached a record for area burned when September and October are usually the worst months for fires.

Nine hundred wildfires have been reported in California since August 15. Many of them are believed to have been caused by lightning strikes in the middle of August. There have been eight fire deaths and more than 3,300 structures destroyed.

California faced a serious heatwave during the Labor¹⁰ Day holiday weekend. Much of California reached temperatures above 38 degrees Celsius¹¹. Death Valley, a desert area in eastern California, hit a record-high of 51.7 Celsius on Saturday. That number beat the former record of 48 Celsius set in 2017, the National Weather Service said.

Some parts of the U.S. also experienced¹² huge temperature changes in recent days. One of those areas is the western city of Denver, Colorado.

On Monday, Denver reached a temperature of at least 33 degrees Celsius. For Tuesday, state weather officials predicted the low to be well below 0 degrees Celsius, the Denver Post reported. The officials also predicted stormy conditions, including snow.

The big temperature drop could break a state record. The largest one day temperature change in history for Denver was set back in January 1872.

I'm Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

flame – n. the visible¹³ part of a fire

display – v. to show, to make visible

unnerving – adj. to cause someone to feel afraid or upset, unable to think clearly

1 counties   

郡，县( county的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The deposits spread for 100 kilometers across four counties. 这些矿藏绵延一百公里，跨越四个县。
• The Jinggang Mountains stand where the boundaries of four counties meet. 井冈山位于四县之交。

2 paradise   

n.伊甸乐园，天堂

参考例句：

• My house had a small backyard,the paradise of children.我那幢房子有一个小后院，那是孩子们玩耍的乐园。
• On a hot day a dip in the sea is sheer paradise.热天洗个海水澡是十分令人惬意的事。

3 region   

n.地区，地带，区域；范围，幅度

参考例句：

• The students went to study the geology of that region.学生们去研究那个地区的地质情况。
• It is unusual to see snow in this region.这个地区难得见到雪。

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

5 mammoth   

n.长毛象；adj.长毛象似的，巨大的

参考例句：

• You can only undertake mammoth changes if the finances are there.资金到位的情况下方可进行重大变革。
• Building the new railroad will be a mammoth job.修建那条新铁路将是一项巨大工程。

6 reservoir   

n.水库，蓄水池；(人才等的)储藏，汇集

参考例句：

• The town is supplied with water from a reservoir.该城镇由小山中的一座水库供水。
• A large quantity of water is stored in the reservoir.水库存了大量的水。

7 navy   

n.海军，海军人员，海军军力，藏青色

参考例句：

• My brother is in the navy.我兄弟在海军服役。
• He has transferred from the army to the navy.他从陆军转到海军。

8 county   

n.县，郡

参考例句：

• When the good news reached there,the whole county rejoiced.喜讯传到那里时，全县的人都欢欣鼓舞起来。
• In that year county after county fell to the enemy.那一年一个又一个的县城沦入敌人手中。

9 forestry   

n.森林学；林业

参考例句：

• At present, the Chinese forestry is being at a significant transforming period. 当前, 我国的林业正处于一个重大的转折时期。
• Anhua is one of the key forestry counties in Hunan province. 安化县是湖南省重点林区县之一。

10 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

11 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

12 experienced   

adj.有经验的；经验丰富的，熟练的

参考例句：

• Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather.有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
• Perhaps you and I had better change over;you are more experienced.也许我们的工作还是对换一下好，你比我更有经验。

13 visible   

adj.看得见的，明显的，显然的；n.可见物

参考例句：

• It is a visible star in the sky.这是一颗在天空中可见的星星。
• The warning lights were clearly visible.警示信号灯清晰可见。