A wildfire sweeping through California‘s Eastern Sierra has forced authorities to evacuate multiple counties in the region.
The wildfire has so far burned 1,000 acres in Eastern California, media reports said.
The Silver Fire, which ignited on Sunday afternoon near Highway 6 and Silver Canyon Road in Inyo County, is currently zero percent contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) as quoted by The Independent.
The fire forced the mandatory evacuation of several communities, including Laws in Inyo County, Chalfant in Mono County, and the White Mountain Estates neighborhood.
Authorities were forced to close a 30-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 6.
No casualties or damage to property have been reported so far.
California Wildfires
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, Cal Fire was quoted as saying, The Independent.
More than 200 firefighters were battling the blaze, but gusts reaching 35 miles per hour at Bishop Airport grounded some firefighting aircraft and complicated containment efforts, Cal Fire said.
California’s biggest city, Los Angeles, battled the worst wildfire outbreak in January this year that left 29 people dead.
The fire destroyed over 16,000 structures.
Researchers Blame Climate Change
Researchers doubt that climate change may be the cause behind the wildfire outbreaks.
The devastating wildfires were made more likely due to the impact of climate change, researchers told The Independent.
WHO Issues Health Alert
As per the World Health Organization, wildfires are increasing around the globe in frequency, severity and duration, heightening the need to understand the health effects of wildfire exposure.
“The risk of wildfires grows in extremely dry conditions, such as drought, heat waves and during high winds,” the website said.
“Wildfire smoke is a mixture of hazardous air pollutants, such as PM2.5, NO2, ozone, aromatic hydrocarbons, or lead. In addition to contaminating the air with toxic pollutants, wildfires also simultaneously impact the climate by releasing large quantities of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere,” the health body said.
WHO said that with climate change leading to warmer temperatures and drier conditions and the increasing urbanization of rural areas, the fire season is starting earlier and ending later.
“Wildfire events are getting more extreme in terms of acres burned, duration and intensity, and they can disrupt transportation, communications, water supply, and power and gas services,” WHO said.
(With inputs from IBNS)
