Communities evacuated as California firefighters battle forest fires in high heat
- California and the rest of the US west coast is experiencing a drought tied to climate change, which is contributing to worsening forest fire seasons
- Evacuation orders were in place for some areas, but there was no immediate information on how many people were forced to flee
Hundreds of firefighters worked on 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.
The scene was ominously reminiscent of last year’s California forest fire season, which scorched more than 6,562 square miles (17,000 square kilometres), the most in recorded history.
An extraordinary Pacific northwest heatwave that extended into the upper reaches of California was slowly receding, but it was only expected to cool off slightly before temperatures trend back up heading into the Fourth of July weekend, forecasters said.
“It is very hot and dry,” said Suzi Johnson, a Shasta-Trinity National Forest spokeswoman for the Salt Fire, which broke out on Wednesday and quickly grew to more than 4 square miles (10 square kilometres).