Wildfires have burned more land in the far western US state of Oregon this year than in any year since reliable records began, authorities said, as the peak fire season approaches in mid-August, with several blazes still burning today.
More than 5.700 square kilometers of land were burned in the fires, said Carol Connolly, spokeswoman for the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center.
That, she said, is more than in any year since reliable record-keeping began in 1992 and surpasses the previous record set in 2020.
She said that there were 71 big fires this year. Large fires are those that affect more than 40 hectares of trees or 120 hectares of meadows or bushes.
In Oregon, fortunately, only 32 homes burned in those fires, which she said were fueled by heat and drought.
There were evacuation calls across Oregon, primarily in rural and mountainous areas, and some were near the capital, Portland.
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