By: Ewan Thomson

On July 21st, Oregon and Washington state experienced a total of 28 wildfires, putting 2,900 people in danger. The wildfires were caused by a dry climate, heat waves, gusts of wind, and potential lightning strikes.

Of the 28 fires 22 were in Oregon and six were in Washington State. The fires, have burned more than 621,000 acres and put about 547,000 peopleunder red flag warnings. A red flag warning means a high risk of fires and that youare expected to take extra precautions to stop a fire from appearing. 3,000 people were under evacuation orders in Oregon. John Hendricks is, a spokesman for the Oregon State Fire Marshal., said

“Our firefighters are working extremely hard to protect communities that are threatened by wildfires,” Hendricks said.
What Hendricks says suggests that the fires on Sunday, July 21, 2024, are severely serious, and threatening compared to most wildfiresituations.

GovernorTina Kotek of Oregon said, “We are facing strong ,erratic winds over the region that could impact all fires. Rain is not getting through. Some communities do not have power.”

Kotek also said at anews conference on Friday that lightning strikes have caused more than 100 fires in the past week, but not all of them grew. This means that the conditions in Oregon make fires much more common and much stronger than usuall.

There were a lot of heat warnings throughout other parts of North West On Sunday, July 21st11 million people in Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington State were under excessive heat warnings, with parts of the interior Pacific Northwest having temperatures reach over 110 degrees Fahrenheit.

The Falls Fire in Oregon started on July 10 and has burnt 117,000 acres of land, andwas 12 percent contained on Sunday. The Crow Valley fire started on July 11 and has burnt over 133,000 acres of land and was nearly 80 percent contained.

All in all, Oregon and Washington State are having a very big and serious Fire problem.

Pacific Northwest Critical wild fires.

WHO: More than Half a Million people In Oregon. 547,000 were under red flag warnings.
WHAT: heatwave and several large blazes. Burned over 621,000 aces. Numerous fires starts and erratic fire spread. 22 fires burning in Oregon and six in Washington on Sunday. 3,000 people were under evacuation orders across Oregon. 2,900 people faced significant danger. 6,500 residents were areas that
There temperature in north west America could reach 110 degrees Fahrenheit. More than 11 million people in Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington State are under excessive heat warnings on Sunday.
WHEN: Sunday July 21, 2024
WHERE: In Oregon and Washington State.
WHY: Dangerous Heat wave, Gust winds and potential lightning strikes. High temperatures, very low humidity and strong winds. Thunderstorms moving across region

Sources:
https://www.weather.gov/mqt/redflagtips
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/21/us/wildfires-lightning-oregon-washington.html
https://www.npr.org/2024/07/25/g-s1-13253/wind-lightning-oregon-idaho-fire

Image Credit by Vladyslav Dukhin