Wildfires in Arizona and California continued to spread Sunday, burning over 1,500 acres of land and causing multiple evacuations, CNN reported.
Intense heat and dry weather have prompted growing wildfires in Arizona and California, burning hundreds of thousands of acres so far this year, according to CNN. The growing heat and lack of rain have placed over 48 million people in the Western U.S under a heat advisory watch.
A wildfire rapidly burned over 1,200 acres Sunday, causing the Arizona State Forestry to call for evacuations on Sunday, local affiliate CBS 5 reported. (RELATED: Residents Forced to Evacuate As Wildfire Rips Through Over 600 Acres of State Forest)
#CornvilleFire – est. 1,000 acres w/winds pushing it to the west. Fire actively burning in grass, brush, & PJ approx. 2 miles E. of #Cornville. Aircraft incl. 2 VLATs supporting ground crews to stop forward progress & provide structure protection. #AZForestry #AZFire @CoconinoNF pic.twitter.com/ccUtQAbEZV
— AZ State Forestry (@azstateforestry) June 14, 2021
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey called for a special legislative session last Thursday to address the growing wildfires, which have burned over 163,000 acres this year, according to a transcript of his press conference.
The Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management warned of rising temperatures and dry weather having “the potential to produce large wildland fire incidents across Arizona,” in a statement released Saturday.
The department also acknowledged approaching thunderstorms which would cause “rapid fuel ignition and fire spread with very erratic and extreme fire behavior.”
California saw a spike in wildfires on Sunday, as more than 400 acres were burned in the Sand Bernardino County, according to Cal Fire.
The latest Drought Monitor expands the area of extreme drought to across all of SBA and SLO Counties. The cumulative percent area of extreme to exceptional drought across CA increased from 74.46% to 85.20% this past week. #CAwx #cadrought https://t.co/RsYqIcxcm7 pic.twitter.com/wThaK5puKF
— NWS Los Angeles (@NWSLosAngeles) June 10, 2021
California has seen nearly twice the acreage burned this year than last year, Last year, the state experienced 6,353 fires that burned 2,025 acres, while this year, the state has witnessed 2,733 fires burning 12,540 acres.
In 2021, the U.S. has seen 833,479 acres burned in 26,633 fires compared to last year’s figure of 658,069 acres burned in 20,731 fires.
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