Oregon wildfire displaces 2,000 residents as blazes flare across U.S. West
By Deborah Bloom
Reuters
KLAMATH FALLS, Oregon (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 from 5% a day earlier, but Incident Commander Joe Hessel said the blaze would continue to expand.
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