Oregon, California wildfires destroy homes amid heat wave

The Flat Fire near Bend, Ore. on Sunday evening burned four homes and damaged other buildings, according to the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office. The wildfire had burned nearly 22,000 acres as of Monday morning, and nearly 4,000 homes were in an evacuation zone. The owners of 1,000 of those homes had orders to leave immediately. On Sunday, no part of the fire’s perimeter was contained, although dozens of fire crews and equipment operators had fought the blaze. The fire erupted Thursday as Oregon experienced a heat wave moving through the Pacific Northwest.

What about California? Authorities in Napa County, Calif. on Sunday lifted some evacuation orders but kept others in place as firefighters fought the Pickett Fire. The fire ignited Thursday, spreading to more than 6,000 acres, and the fire’s perimeter was 13% contained as of Monday morning, according to Cal Fire. The fire is in the same region where the Glass Fire in 2020 burned more than 11,000 acres.

Dig deeper: Read my report from earlier this month about fires across California.