A search and rescue canine leaves a home leveled by the McKinney Fire on Monday, Aug. 1, 2022, in Klamath National Forest, Calif. – When ash began to fall and his throat was burning from the smoke, Franklin Thom decided it was time to leave the city where he grew up on the edge of the national forest in California.
The blaze in Northern California near the state line with Oregon exploded in size to nearly 87 square miles after starting in the Klamath National Forest. It was one of several fires raging through the Western U.S., threatening thousands of homes.In northwestern Montana, a fire that started Friday afternoon near the town of Elmo on the Flathead Indian Reservation measured 20 square miles , fire officials said.
Yreka could see a high of nearly 90 degrees Fahrenheit on Tuesday, and the National Weather Service issued a red flag warning of extreme fire danger into Tuesday night because of the chance of lightning starting new fires and gusty outflowing winds from thunderstorms powering the flames. “I started throwing everything on the top of my truck,” but had to leave many things behind, she said.Ad
Elsewhere, the Moose Fire in Idaho has burned more than 85 square miles in the Salmon-Challis National Forest while threatening homes, mining operations and fisheries near the town of Salmon. It was 23% contained Monday.And a wildfire raging in northwestern Nebraska led to evacuations and destroyed or damaged several homes near the small city of Gering. The Carter Canyon Fire began Saturday as two separate fires that merged. It was about 30% contained by early Monday.