California firefighters battle big wildfires in high heat
TERRY CHEA and JOHN ANTCZAK, Associated Press
July 1, 2021
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1of11An air tanker drops fire retardant to battle the Salt Fire in Lakehead, Calif., on Thursday, July 1, 2021. Firefighters are battling multiple fires in the region following high temperatures and lightning strikes.Noah Berger/APShow MoreShow Less
2of11In this Monday, June 28, 2021, photo firefighters with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection work to extinguish hot spots after the Lava Fire burned through an area alongside U.S. Highway 97 northeast of Weed, Calif. A wildfire that has put thousands of people under evacuation orders in Northern California grew substantially but firefighters had some success against the flames, authorities said Wednesday, June 30. Burning in the shadow of the towering Mount Shasta volcano, the Lava Fire was ignited by lightning last week. (Scott Stoddard/Grants Pass Daily C
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Terry Chea And John Antczak
An air tanker drops fire retardant to battle the Salt Fire in Lakehead, Calif., on Thursday, July 1, 2021. Firefighters are battling multiple fires in the region following high temperatures and lightning strikes. (AP Photo/Noah Berger) July 01, 2021 - 3:35 PM
REDDING, Calif. (AP) â Hundreds of firefighters worked Thursday in high heat to beat back wildfires in the forests of far Northern California, where the flames have forced many communities to evacuate.
Mount Shasta, the volcano that towers over the region, was shrouded in a haze of smoke plumes so huge they could easily be seen in images from weather satellites in space.
“It is very hot and dry,” said Suzi Johnson, a Shasta-Trinity national forest spokeswoman for the Salt fire, which broke out Wednesday and quickly grew to more than 4 sq miles (10 sq km), temporarily shutting down Interstate 5.
California and the rest of the US west is mired in a historic drought tied to climate change, which also is contributing to worsening wildfire seasons and heatwaves.
The fire was a threat to homes around Shasta Lake, north of the city of Redding, more than 200 miles (322km) north of San Francisco. The huge lake is popular with vacationers, but its water level is dramatically low because of the drought.