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Firefighters in California are grasping at straws in trying to contain the extreme growth of Northern fire in Western states, forcing major highways to be shut down temporarily and killing two crew members of a small aircraft that crashed in Arizona last Saturday.
The Beech C-90 aircraft was doing a survey of a wildfire in rural Mohave County when it crashed around noon while observing the spread of a lightning-caused Cedar Basin fire, near the tiny community of Wikieup north-west of Phoenix. Unfortunately, the identified victims Jeff Piechura, 62, and Matthew Miller, 48, both died in the incident.
(Photo : Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
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U.S. Forest Service firefighters Chris Voelker, left, and Kyle Jacobson monitor the Sugar Fire, part of the Beckwourth Complex Fire, burning in Plumas National Forest, Calif., on Friday, July 9, 2021. The Beckwourth Complex â a merging of two lightning-caused fires â headed into Saturday showing no sign of slowing its rush northeast from the Sierra Nevada forest region after doubling in size only a few days earlier. Noah Berger
The Sugar Fire, part of the Beckwourth Complex Fire, burns in Plumas National Forest, Calif., on Friday, July 9, 2021. Noah Berger
Smoke envelops trees as the Sugar Fire, part of the Beckwourth Complex Fire, burns in Doyle, Calif., Friday, July 9, 2021.
KXLY
July 12, 2021 4:50 PM By JOHN ANTCZAK and CHRISTOPHER WEBER
Associated Press
Posted:
Updated:
Noah Berger
A firefighter sprays water while trying to stop the Sugar Fire, part of the Beckwourth Complex Fire, from spreading to neighboring homes in Doyle, Calif., Saturday, July 10, 2021. Pushed by heavy winds amid a heat wave, the fire came out of the hills and destroyed multiple residences in central Doyle.
Noah Berger
Fire consumes a home as the Sugar Fire, part of the Beckwourth Complex Fire, tears through Doyle, Calif., on Saturday, July 10, 2021. Pushed by heavy winds, the fire came out of the hills and destroyed multiple residences in central Doyle.
“Our hearts go out to the families of our brave wildland firefighters,” an Arizona Bureau of Land Management spokesperson said in a statement.
In California, officials asked all residents to reduce power consumption quickly after a major wildfire in southern Oregon knocked out interstate power lines, preventing up to 5,500 megawatts of electricity from flowing south into the state.
The California Independent System Operator, which runs the state’s power grid, said Saturday the Bootleg Fire took three transmission lines off-line, straining electricity supplies as temperatures in the area soared.
“The Bootleg Fire will see the potential for extreme growth today,” the National Weather Service in Medford, Oregon, tweeted Sunday.