Thousands Flee Their Homes from Wildfires in Western US

Wildfires were reported Tuesday in ten states in the western United States that forced thousands of people to leave their homes, particularly in Oregon, where the National Weather Service announced that the fire threatened California's electricity supply.

The U.S. National Interagency Fire Center reported that almost 60 fires swept through dry forested areas from Alaska to Wyoming. More than half of the largest fires were concentrated in the states of Arizona, Idaho and Montana.

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The U.S. National Weather Service said the heat peaked in much of the areas affected by the fires, and that the remaining excessive heat advisories were "due to expire Tuesday night."

The largest fire was reported in rural southeastern Oregon. According to local fire officials, it had devoured about 316 square miles and endangered about 2,000 homes.

Oregon fire spokesman Daniel Omdal reported that as of Tuesday, 21 homes and other smaller buildings had been destroyed by the blaze. The official added that firefighters were working to "establish containment lines and had not been able to encircle any section of the fire in the Fremont-Winema National Forest" in Klamath County.

Omdal also referred to the extreme weather conditions under which firefighters are operating, given the low humidity and the presence of flammable fuel elements, which "creates conditions for significant fire activity."

The Oregon fire knocked out three transmission lines supplying up to 5,500 megawatts of electricity to California.