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US wildfires displace more than 60,000 as fire risk worsens globally
Washington officials said more than 60,000 people, about 10% of Spokane’s population, have been forced from homes, with major fires still uncontained.
The US is facing one of its worst wildfire seasons in years, with blazes scorching millions of acres and driving large-scale evacuations, according to Insurance Journal. In and around Spokane, Washington, the fires have destroyed hundreds of structures and forced more than 60,000 people from their homes, about 10% of the population.
Insurance Journal notes that three major fires have burned more than 8,000 acres and have not been contained, based on InciWeb, a federal fire-tracking website. Washington also has 17 active fires statewide, a figure cited by Public Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove.
The report links the current outbreak to a broader global pattern of hotter, drier conditions that raise the odds of destructive wildfires, citing Insurance Journal’s description of fires in Greece as well. It adds that earlier this year, historic fires in France and Spain displaced hundreds of thousands of residents.
Insurance Journal attributes the changing risk to record-breaking warmth and dryness that leave vegetation less able to resist burning. It quotes climate and wildfire researchers saying rising temperatures are worsening wildfire conditions in multiple ways, including by making traditional fire regions hotter and drier and expanding the kinds of landscapes that can sustain large fires, across different ecosystems.