More than a million acres now on fire — the size of the entire Grand Canyon

by Joseph Guzman | July 13, 2021 | Jul. 13, 2021

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Story at a glance

There are currently 67 active wildfires burning through an roughly 917,000 acres across 12 states.
Meanwhile in Canada, firefighters are battling more than 300 active wildfires burning through more than 500,000 acres.
In total, nearly 34,000 fires have scorched more than 2 million acres in the U.S. so far this year.

Raging wildfires moving across the western United States and Canada are burning through more than 1 million acres amid historic drought and record temperatures, scorching an area of land roughly the size of the Grand Canyon.

There are currently 67 active wildfires burning through roughly 917,000 acres across 12 states — including 11 in both Idaho and Arizona, 10 in Montana and seven in California, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. More than 12,200 firefighters and support personnel are battling blazes across the country.

Meanwhile in Canada, firefighters are battling more than 300 active wildfires burning through more than 500,000 acres. Canada’s Interagency Forest Fire Center raised its national preparedness level to Level 5 on Monday, the highest on its scale.

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Some of the largest wildfires are burning in Oregon and California. A fire in the Fremont-Winema National Forest in Oregon has grown to nearly 202,000 acres with no containment and triggered evacuations in the area.

A northern California fire near the state’s border with Nevada has burned more than 92,000 acres with 46 percent containment.

In total, more than 33,000 fires have scorched more than 2 million acres in the U.S. so far this year.

Much of the West has been in the throes of a sweltering heat wave, with inland California and the Pacific Northwest seeing record-breaking, triple-digit temperatures.

Scientists say climate change is increasing the intensity of fire seasons, heat waves and drought. A recent analysis from the World Weather Attribution network claims the record-breaking heat wave that hit the Pacific Northwest would have been “virtually impossible without human-caused climate change.”

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