wildfires

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Residents Flee 20,000-Acre Colorado Wildfire

Smoke-eaters also battling fires in Wyoming, New Mexico

(Newser) - Some 2,000 families are fleeing the 20,000-acre High Park wildfire in northern Colorado. “The burning pattern could potentially cut off exit routes for residents in this area and they should leave now,” authorities reiterated on a website. Some 18 buildings have already been damaged or destroyed...

Giant New Mexico Fire Could Be First of Many

And it's just getting bigger

(Newser) - New Mexico's biggest-ever wildfire may herald an onslaught of giant blazes in the western US, experts say. "We've been in a long drought cycle for the last 20 years, and conditions now are great for these type of fires," says an Arizona science professor. "Everything...

Fire Now Largest in New Mexico's History

Has burned 265 square miles in Gila National Forest

(Newser) - A massive wildfire that has burned more than 265 square miles in the Gila National Forest has become the largest fire in New Mexico state history, fire officials confirmed today. The erratic blaze grew overnight to more than 170,000 acres, surpassing a blaze last year that burned 156,593...

Michigan Wildfire Torches 21K Acres

6 buildings destroyed so far

(Newser) - A wildfire in Michigan's Upper Peninsula grew by 17% to more than 21,000 acres today as officials warned of tough conditions and welcomed help from water-dumping aircraft from the Michigan National Guard. Wind gusts were predicted at 15 mph and high temperatures were in the 60s in a...

Uncontrolled Colorado Wildfire Kills One

Lower North Fork Fire has burned more than 3K acres

(Newser) - A wildfire in Colorado was still burning uncontrolled this morning after claiming the life of one person, the Denver Post reports. The 3,050-acre Lower North Fork Fire has also destroyed as many as 25 structures in the mountains west of Denver, and winds of up to 45mph will likely...

Thousands Flee Reno Wildfire
 Thousands Flee Reno Wildfire 
Jan 19, 2012 11:14 PM CST

Thousands Flee Reno Wildfire

10K evacuated from homes as hundreds battle blaze

(Newser) - A fast-moving brush fire south of Reno has burned several homes and forced around 10,000 people to be evacuated from their neighborhoods. More than 200 firefighters are tackling the blaze, which grew to more than 5 square miles after starting yesterday afternoon and has not yet been contained, CNN...

Texas Wildfire Toll: 1,386 Homes, 2 Lives

Bastrop fire just 30% contained

(Newser) - Texas’ Bastrop Wildfire has already been named the state’s worst ever , and it continues to rage: Now 1,386 homes have been destroyed, and the fire is just 30% contained. Two people have died, one of them a city of Austin employee found inside his home. The fire has...

Texas Fires' Toll: 1,000 Homes and Counting

Firefighters still trying to contain blazes fed by Tropical Storm Lee

(Newser) - More than 1,000 homes have been destroyed in at least 57 wildfires across rain-starved Texas, most of them in one devastating blaze near Austin that is still raging out of control, officials said today. Gov. Rick Perry, who cut short a presidential campaign trip to South Carolina to return...

Texas Bastrop Wildfire Burns 500 Homes
 Texas Wildfire Is 'Worst Ever' 
Sep 6, 2011 7:48 AM CDT

Texas Wildfire Is 'Worst Ever'

Nearly 500 homes destroyed; 3.5M acres charred this year

(Newser) - Wildfires continued to ravage Central Texas yesterday as firefighters battled the most devastating single fire in Texas history, the Los Angeles Times reports. As of yesterday, 476 homes had been destroyed in Bastrop County, east of Austin; firefighters battled the flames as they tore through thousands of acres. With 40...

Yosemite Fire Scorches 5K Acres

Skies still blue over park despite huge blaze

(Newser) - After five days of hard work, firefighters are making good progress against a wildfire raging near Yosemite National Park. The fire—started when a propane tank on a motor home traveling on one the main roads into the park exploded—has burned more than 5,000 acres and forced the...

2 Charged With Biggest-Ever Arizona Wildfire

Pair accused of leaving campfire when hiking

(Newser) - Two Arizona cousins who allegedly left a campfire unattended have been charged with starting the biggest wildfire in the state's history . The Wallow fire, which burned more than 800 square miles of wilderness in June, began after Caleb and David Wayne Malboeuf left their fire—which they believed to...

Arizona Fire Season Worst in History

Almost 1M acres charred

(Newser) - In terms of sheer acreage, it’s been the worst year on record for Arizona wildfires: Some 981,748 acres were charred in the flames, surpassing the 2005 record of 975,178. Driving the flames were dry weather and heavy winds early in the summer, reports the Arizona Republic . But...

Los Alamos Officials Still Confident Lab Is Safe

But thousands of experiments remain idle during shutdown

(Newser) - Los Alamos nuclear laboratory officials say it could be a few days before they'll know the extent of how experiments at the facility that created the first atomic bomb have been affected by a shutdown caused by a 125-square-mile wildfire . The lab has been shut down since Monday, when...

Wildfire Races to Los Alamos Plutonium

30,000 drums of spent material stored on grounds

(Newser) - Desperate firefighters scrambled today to keep a raging New Mexico wildfire from thousands of drums of spent plutonium on the grounds of the Los Alamos nuclear weapons facility. The potential danger has already forced the evacuation of the entire town of Los Alamos and the surrounding area. Officials insisted that...

New Mexico Governor: Let's Skip the Fireworks

She makes plea with wildfire near Los Alamos lab

(Newser) - With a wildfire burning up her state and threatening the Los Alamos nuclear lab, Gov. Susana Martinez thinks this would be a terrific year to skip the Fourth of July fireworks. She doesn't have the authority to order a statewide ban, so she's merely making an appeal to...

New Mexico Wildfire Reaches Los Alamos
 Wildfire Reaches Los Alamos 
Jun 28, 2011 2:25 AM CDT

Wildfire Reaches Los Alamos

Blaze on outskirts of lab complex extinguished

(Newser) - A wildfire raging in New Mexico jumped a highway and set fire to an acre at the edge of the Los Alamos National Laboratory property, triggering the evacuation of thousands of nearby residents. The fire, which hit an area once used for underground tests of radioactive explosives, was extinguished safely...

Wildfire Threatens Los Alamos Nuclear Lab

'It's a very, very big concern'

(Newser) - It's not a good day to live near a nuclear facility : In New Mexico, a wildfire is edging dangerously close to the Los Alamos National Laboratory, where the world's first nuclear weapons were developed during WWII. "It's a very, very big concern, not only locally but...

Wildfires Will Rage Until Rainy Season

And rains aren't expected until mid-July at earliest

(Newser) - Don't expect the news of wildfires blazing through the Southwest to end any time soon. Officials say fire danger will remain for several more weeks. The seasonal rains that normally stop the fire threat aren't expected to come until mid-July at the soonest. "We're not even...

Arizona Questions 2 in Wildfire
 Arizona Questions 2 in Wildfire 
Jun 16, 2011 8:05 AM CDT

Arizona Questions 2 in Wildfire

Wallow blaze likely caused by campfire

(Newser) - Investigators in Arizona have questioned two "persons of interest" in the most devastating wildfire to ever blaze through the state, which they believe was caused by a single campfire in the Bear Wallow wilderness, reports the AP. It's unclear whether those involved will face charges or have to...

Wallow Fire Now Arizona's Largest Ever

But firefighters made headway yesterday

(Newser) - The bad news: Arizona’s Wallow wildfire is now the state’s largest-ever. The good news: Firefighters got some control over it yesterday, and it is now 18% contained. But "the great news,” says a fire official, “is we still have a total of seven injuries and...

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