Extreme Heat, Dry Conditions Fuel California Wildfires
2020-09-09
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1Several large wildfires are burning in California, where extreme heat and dry, windy conditions are fueling the flames.
2Two of the three largest fires in state history are burning in the northern San Francisco Bay area.
3Reports say more than 14,000 firefighters are battling those fires and over 20 others across California.
4The fire danger also is high in Southern California, where fires were burning in Los Angeles, San Bernardino and San Diego counties.
5The U.S. Forest Service closed all eight national forests in the area on Monday and shut down campgrounds around the state.
6September and October are traditionally wildfire season in California.
7A record 809,000 hectares have burned this year.
8The previous record, set two years ago, included the deadliest wildfire in state history.
9That fire destroyed most of the community of Paradise and killed 85 people.
10Officials have blamed the record-breaking fires on electricity lines along with strong winds and dry conditions.
11To guard against new wildfires, California's biggest electricity provider now cuts power to areas with high-risk conditions.
12In recent days, power was cut to more than 172,000 homes in an effort to prevent new fires.
13"The wildfire situation throughout California is dangerous and must be taken seriously," said Randy Moore, an official with the U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Region.
14"Existing fires are displaying extreme fire behavior, new fire starts are likely, weather conditions are worsening, and we simply do not have enough resources to fully fight and contain every fire," he added.
15On Saturday, National Guard rescuers in two military helicopters airlifted 214 people to safety after flames trapped them in a wooded camping area near Mammoth Pool Reservoir.
16The manmade lake is north of the city of Fresno.
17Twelve people were hospitalized, two of them with serious injuries.
18Early Tuesday, California National Guard and Navy helicopters rescued another 13 people trapped in Fresno County.
19The rescue flights had been delayed because of heavy smoke Monday night.
20Lynne Tolmachoff is a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
21She told The Associated Press it was "unnerving" to have already reached a record for area burned when September and October are usually the worst months for fires.
22Nine hundred wildfires have been reported in California since August 15.
23Many of them are believed to have been caused by lightning strikes in the middle of August.
24There have been eight fire deaths and more than 3,300 structures destroyed.
25California faced a serious heatwave during the Labor Day holiday weekend.
26Much of California reached temperatures above 38 degrees Celsius.
27Death Valley, a desert area in eastern California, hit a record-high of 51.7 Celsius on Saturday.
28That number beat the former record of 48 Celsius set in 2017, the National Weather Service said.
29Some parts of the U.S. also experienced huge temperature changes in recent days.
30One of those areas is the western city of Denver, Colorado.
31On Monday, Denver reached a temperature of at least 33 degrees Celsius.
32For Tuesday, state weather officials predicted the low to be well below 0 degrees Celsius, the Denver Post reported.
33The officials also predicted stormy conditions, including snow.
34The big temperature drop could break a state record.
35The largest one day temperature change in history for Denver was set back in January 1872.
36I'm Bryan Lynn.
1Several large wildfires are burning in California, where extreme heat and dry, windy conditions are fueling the flames. 2Two of the three largest fires in state history are burning in the northern San Francisco Bay area. Reports say more than 14,000 firefighters are battling those fires and over 20 others across California. 3The fire danger also is high in Southern California, where fires were burning in Los Angeles, San Bernardino and San Diego counties. The U.S. Forest Service closed all eight national forests in the area on Monday and shut down campgrounds around the state. 4September and October are traditionally wildfire season in California. A record 809,000 hectares have burned this year. The previous record, set two years ago, included the deadliest wildfire in state history. That fire destroyed most of the community of Paradise and killed 85 people. 5Officials have blamed the record-breaking fires on electricity lines along with strong winds and dry conditions. To guard against new wildfires, California's biggest electricity provider now cuts power to areas with high-risk conditions. In recent days, power was cut to more than 172,000 homes in an effort to prevent new fires. 6"The wildfire situation throughout California is dangerous and must be taken seriously," said Randy Moore, an official with the U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Region. 7"Existing fires are displaying extreme fire behavior, new fire starts are likely, weather conditions are worsening, and we simply do not have enough resources to fully fight and contain every fire," he added. 8On Saturday, National Guard rescuers in two military helicopters airlifted 214 people to safety after flames trapped them in a wooded camping area near Mammoth Pool Reservoir. The manmade lake is north of the city of Fresno. Twelve people were hospitalized, two of them with serious injuries. 9Early Tuesday, California National Guard and Navy helicopters rescued another 13 people trapped in Fresno County. The rescue flights had been delayed because of heavy smoke Monday night. 10Lynne Tolmachoff is a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. She told The Associated Press it was "unnerving" to have already reached a record for area burned when September and October are usually the worst months for fires. 11Nine hundred wildfires have been reported in California since August 15. Many of them are believed to have been caused by lightning strikes in the middle of August. There have been eight fire deaths and more than 3,300 structures destroyed. 12California faced a serious heatwave during the Labor Day holiday weekend. Much of California reached temperatures above 38 degrees Celsius. Death Valley, a desert area in eastern California, hit a record-high of 51.7 Celsius on Saturday. That number beat the former record of 48 Celsius set in 2017, the National Weather Service said. 13Some parts of the U.S. also experienced huge temperature changes in recent days. One of those areas is the western city of Denver, Colorado. 14On Monday, Denver reached a temperature of at least 33 degrees Celsius. For Tuesday, state weather officials predicted the low to be well below 0 degrees Celsius, the Denver Post reported. The officials also predicted stormy conditions, including snow. 15The big temperature drop could break a state record. The largest one day temperature change in history for Denver was set back in January 1872. 16I'm Bryan Lynn. 17The Associated Press and Reuters reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. 18We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. 19________________________________________________________________ 20Words in This Story 21flame - n. the visible part of a fire 22display - v. to show, to make visible 23unnerving - adj. to cause someone to feel afraid or upset, unable to think clearly