Over 1,200 firefighters continued to battle the Tamarack Fire near Lake Tahoe in California and Nevada.- in Oregon, the nation’s largest wildfire, the Bootleg Fire, grew to 624 square miles Thursday – just over half the size of Rhode Island.
- Almost 80 large wildfires are now burning across the U.S., including 19 in Montana.
A large wildfire in Northern California spread into Nevada late Wednesday, leading to new evacuations, while crews battling the nation’s largest fire in Oregon were aided by better weather.
Smoke from wildfires in the West continued to spread Thursday, bringing hazy skies and poor air quality to many locations.
More than 1,200 firefighters battled the Tamarack Fire near Lake Tahoe in California and Nevada on Thursday. The fire has burned more than 68 square miles of national forest.
A request for evacuations was issued for portions of Douglas County, Nevada, as the fire spread across the state line. An evacuation center was set up at a community center in Gardnerville, Nevada.
Fire officials expected active or extreme fire behavior Thursday, which could see 14-mph winds and temperatures approaching 90 degrees.
To the northwest, the Dixie Fire spread up the west flank of the Sierra Nevada, expanding to more than 162 square miles. The west shore of a resort lake and many other small communities were under evacuation orders.
In Oregon, the nation’s largest wildfire, the Bootleg Fire, grew to 624 square miles Thursday – more than half the size of Rhode Island.
Authorities said lower winds and temperatures allowed crews to improve fire lines in that blaze. The fire approached an area burned by a previous fire on its active southeastern flank, raising hopes that lack of fuel could reduce its spread.
