Chasing wildfires

Steve Ryan (Velo Steve)

The Rim Fire in the Stanislaus National Forest near in California began on Aug. 17, 2013 and is under investigation. The fire has consumed approximately 149, 780 acres and is 15% contained. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Sofia Cortez, Co-Editor-in-Chief

During the month of October and November, wildfires have continued to consume the western United States, fire officials have said this is the worst fire season, particularly in California in more than a decade.

The Sequoia National Forest in California has never experienced a fire this intense; the fire was so large it doubled in sized in 24 hours.

Many residents, along with their livestock, had to flee their homes in search for safety.

The Sierra Nevada blaze was one of 50 fires burning about 500,000 acres across the nation.

In the west, wildfires continued to burn in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

“We have five new large fires throughout the west, the weather is continuing to be difficult for us, with very high temperatures and very low humidity.

The result is we’re seeing very extreme fire behavior and fire dangers,” said Michelle Barrett, a spokesperson for the Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

Cities have ordered people to evacuate and those who don’t are warned that they can no longer be protected by law enforcement.

The fires have killed 88 people and have left many without homes; mainly from the fires in Paradise, California.

The results of these fires have left people saying they need to stop allowing people to live in areas that are prone to fires.

The United States believes there will be more than $10 billion in damage, with damages still done last year.

Families are hurting however; the people of the United States are doing whatever they can to help those who have been affected.