Forests

"As the Pacific Northwest sweltered through a record-breaking heat wave last week, many residents here in America’s least air-conditioned city sought relief under the shade of cedars and maples in city parks. But in some areas of Seattle, that shelter was hard to come by."

"Firefighters working in searing heat struggled to contain the largest wildfire in California this year while state power operators urged people to conserve energy after a huge wildfire in neighboring Oregon disrupted the flow of electricity from three major transmission lines."

"The lightning that came through Washington, Idaho, and Montana Tuesday and Wednesday started many wildfires, in large part due to the dry fuels and the fact that little or no rain accompanied the lightning."

"Catapulted into the spotlight amid B.C.’s new war in the woods, Pacheedaht First Nation is asserting its right to decide how resources on its territory, including old-growth forests, are managed".

"Emergency responders in Canada are currently battling more than 180 wildfires in British Columbia amid an intense heat wave that has left hundreds dead in the Pacific Northwest."

"Fireworks bans are being enacted throughout the drought-stricken West as officials worry about wildfires—but in Utah, the situation is complicated by a law as murky as the air after a pyrotechnics display."

"On the heels of one of the worst wildfire years on record, the federal government is struggling to recruit and retain staff as firefighters grapple with low wages, trauma and burnout from increasingly long and intense fire seasons."

"Many of the dead were found alone, in homes without air conditioning or fans. Some were elderly — one as old as 97. The body of an immigrant farm laborer was found in an Oregon nursery."

"In the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson, soil repels water across the burn scar of the 2020 Bighorn Fire. Steep slopes and an imminent monsoon mean the hydrophobic ground is ripe for erosion."

"Brenda and Francis Dairy's small ranch house, tucked into the Oregon woods, was built to withstand a wildfire. The siding was concrete, the roof metal. It didn't matter. On Sept. 7 of last year, as the sky turned dark orange and the air grew thick with smoke, flames tore through nearby trees and engulfed the house entirely."