Strong Winds Sleigh US Forest Fires To Oregon

Photo illustration (Cristofer Jeschke / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Forest fires accompanied by strong winds have continued to hit the state of the United States (US), California in recent days. The fires have killed ten people, caused massive material loss and panic among Californians.

"As critical fire weather conditions eased yesterday, firefighters completed a full detention in one of the many fires that occurred in the state," said the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection quoted Yeni Safak, Friday, September 11.

Forest fire conditions are getting worse. Because, on Wednesday, September 8, 37 new fire spots were detected in California. The fires even spread to the State of Oregon. The authorities immediately evacuated about 500 thousand people from their homes.

Oregon officials said firefighters were currently trying to extinguish the blaze over an area of 900,000 hectares across the state. What's more, the firefighting jobs are getting harder and harder as they have to fight against strong winds and heat waves. As a result, forest fires then spread to Washington.

The government provides assistance

For the forest fire disaster, each leader in the affected US state also provides assistance to its citizens. Washington State Governor Jay Inslee was one of them. Through his tweet on Twitter, Inslee promised to provide cash assistance to the 7.6 million Washington residents affected by the wildfires.

“We will not leave the future of this country to climate change. We are stronger, smarter and tougher than that. And I will think about these fires and the communities affected by them as we take further steps to beat climate change, ”Inslee wrote on Twitter.

We are not going to surrender the future of this state to climate change. We are stronger, smarter and more resilient than that. And I'll be thinking of these fires and the communities they're impacting when we take our next steps to defeat climate change. https://t.co/HYk0pM9VX8

- Governor Jay Inslee (@GovInslee) September 10, 2020

Previously, many experts have pointed out that climate change and extreme weather conditions are the cause of hot weather and strong winds. Then, because of more than 12 thousand lightning strikes in August, the fires quickly spread throughout California.

The losses due to forest fires are estimated to be enormous. According to the US 'National Interagency Fire Center, it even estimates that total losses will reach more than 800 million dollars or equivalent to Rp11 trillion this year.