‘Not the Normal Fires Anymore’
As of Thursday morning, the Dixie Fire is one of 100 fires blazing across the U.S. Combined, fires have already burned almost 1,948,000 acres across 14 states. The National Interagency Fire Center said that nine new large fires were reported on Wednesday alone, in Washington, California, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. Record-hot temperatures across the West as well as an ongoing and devastating drought—both supercharged by climate change—are making matters worse.
“These are not the normal fires anymore,” Cagle said in his briefing. “It’s just intense fire behavior, and it’s not what we’re used to.”
