2,000 people displaced in southern Oregon as wildfires ravage West

A wildfire in southern Oregon has displaced 2,000 people as of Thursday evening, Reuters reported.

Officials say that the Bootleg Fire is 7 percent contained and covers more than 227,000 acres near the Fremont-Winema National Forest. Reuters reports that the fire started on July 6 and has grown 12,000 acres since Wednesday’s count, when the fire was only 5 percent contained.

“This is going to continue to grow — the extremely dry vegetation and weather are not in our favor,” said Joe Hessel, incident commander. 

Officials say that over 1,700 people are working to contain the fire and multiple news outlets have reported that it is the largest fire currently ablaze in the country.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) earlier this month invoked the Emergency Conflagration Act to provide more resources at the state level to the wildfire, which was then only 3,000 acres in size. 

According to Reuters, officials said that no serious injuries have been reported as a result of the fire, but 21 homes have been destroyed along with 54 other buildings. The cause of the wildfire is unknown, but drought conditions in the Pacific Northwest, warmer temperatures and humidity are exacerbating the problem, The New York Times reported.

According to the National Interagency Fire Center, the U.S. has experienced almost 34,000 fires in 2021, affecting 2 million acres, the Times reported.

Idaho, California, Alaska and Montana are among several other states that have also been affected by wildfires this year, Reuters noted.