7/15/2021
By Deborah Bloom
KLAMATH FALLS, Oregon, July 15 (Reuters) - Hand crews backed
by water-dropping helicopters struggled on Thursday to suppress
a huge wildfire that displaced roughly 2,000 residents in
southern Oregon, the largest among dozens of blazes raging
across the drought-stricken western United States.
The Bootleg fire has charred more than 227,000 acres (91,860
hectares) of desiccated timber and brush in and around the
Fremont-Winema National Forest since erupting on July 6 about
250 miles (400 km) south of Portland.
That total, exceeding the land mass of New York City, was
12,000 acres higher than Wednesday's tally. Strike teams have
carved containment lines around 7% of the fires's perimeter, up