Latest news with #CramFire
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Newport advises residents to reduce water usage amid Lincoln County drought emergency
PORTLAND, Ore. () — Weeks after a drought emergency was declared in Lincoln County, Newport residents have been directed to conserve water. The City of Newport issued a stage one water curtailment notice on Monday. Stage one advises residents to reduce their water usage as the area faces below-average precipitation and above-average temperatures, while stage two would require a reduction in water usage. Deschutes County selects interim sheriff after report revealed incumbent's misconduct There are four stages, but officials reported that the city has never issued a curtailment notice beyond stage two. 'These are not restrictions at this time, but rather a request to our community to begin implementing conservation methods if they aren't already,' Newport Assistant Public Works Director and Water Treatment Plant Supervisor Steve Stewart said in a . 'We will continue to monitor conditions and water levels to assist our community throughout this drought.' Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek issued Executive Order 2513 in mid-June, thus . Lincoln County has faced four droughts in the past seven years. According to the declaration, the severe drought conditions could lead to natural and economic disaster for the area's agricultural, livestock, natural resources, recreation and tourism sectors. The governor's office also said the conditions could ramp up 'early onset' fire risks. July and August are often Oregon's driest months, KOIN 6 meteorologists have reported. Portions of the region have already seen so far this summer. The Cram Fire, which started burning outside of Madras earlier this month, nearly reached megafire status before it was fully contained. Summer heat returns, August starts cooler around Portland The City of Newport has advised residents to use conservation methods proposed by the Mid-Coast Water Conservation Consortium. This includes minimizing shower time, reducing the amount of water used for lawns and plants, and waiting to run dishwashers and washing machines until they are full. Gov. Kotek has also declared a drought emergency in Baker County. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Grand Canyon Wildfire Becomes A 'Megafire'
A massive wildfire burning on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon has exceeded 100,000 acres, meaning it is now classified as a "megafire". The Dragon Bravo Fire has been burning since it was sparked by a lightning strike on July 4, in an update on Thursday morning, fire officials said the fire has grown to almost 165 square miles, or more than 105,000 acres. That also makes it the largest wildfire of the year so far in the U.S., according to InciWeb, a government site that tracks wildfires. The second largest is the Cram Fire, which burned more than 95,000 acres in Oregon. Containment of the Grand Canyon fire, which had dropped from 26% to just 4% on Wednesday, rose slightly to 9%. "The way we calculate containment in an active wildfire is it is a percent of the total fire perimeter that is out cold," Southwest Area Incident Management Team public information officer Lisa Jennings told KTAR News. "We actually have our firefighters going out there and making sure that those areas are contained, and so that feet of contained line continues to increase, but at the same time, the fire has seen a lot of growth." (MORE: Jaw-Dropping Lightning Strike Caught On Video) More Historic Structures Threatened This wildfire has already claimed at least 70 buildings, including the historic Grand Canyon Lodge, and has shut down the North Rim for the remainder of the 2025 season, but now, more buildings are in its path. According to Fox 10 Phoenix, the historic Kaibab Lodge in Fredonia, which was built in 1926, is also being threatened by the fire. (MORE: Lightning Is A Surprising Tree Killer) The lodge sits just 9 miles from the North Rim Lookout Tower and has been spared so far, but it's one of the buildings that the 968 personnel assigned to the fire have been working tirelessly to protect from the flames. "Just say a prayer," lodge owner Larry Innes told Fox 10 Phoenix. "I mean, it's kind of out of our hands. I mean, the things are working our way right now and let's hope it keeps going that way for the next few days." Another Hot Day Ahead Unfortunately, conditions are not getting more favorable for firefighters who are battling this massive inferno. And although the North Rim is now closed to visitors, anyone in the area will certainly feel the heat. "Temperatures are not expected to change much through the end of the week. At the bottom of the canyon, highs will surpass 110 degrees each afternoon through at least Sunday," said digital meteorologist Jonathan Belles. "Conditions will be dangerous below 4,000 feet, or 1 1/2 miles from the upper trailhead, and hikers are asked to stay out of the canyon between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. (WATCH: Raging Floodwaters Tear Apart Mobile Home) "This is an extremely dangerous heat that can lead to heat illness and even death," digital meteorologist Jennifer Gray added. "Take the alerts seriously, and make sure you stay hydrated if you are visiting the Grand Canyon." And What About The Smoke? "Unhealthy air quality will persist along the North Rim due to the Dragon Bravo Fire nearby," said Gray. "High winds and low humidity will continue to work against firefighters as they battle the flames." If you're heading out to the Grand Canyon for outdoor activities, or anywhere else where wildfire smoke could be lingering in the air, it's important to know what it can do to your body.
Chicago Tribune
6 days ago
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Heidi Stevens: As our land literally burns, we don't owe the president quiet subservience
On July 23 — three weeks into a month that saw close to 100 million Americans living under heat alerts, 17 million people living under flash flood warnings and Oregon's massive Cram Fire barreling toward its 100,000th acre burned — the United Nations' highest court declared climate change an 'urgent and existential threat.' 'The human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is essential for the enjoyment of other human rights,' World Court Judge Yuji Iwasawa said in the court's advisory opinion. The court ruled that countries must, under international law, address climate change by working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Trump administration just drafted a plan to do the opposite. Under a new proposal sent to the White House, the Environmental Protection Agency would rescind 2009's 'endangerment finding,' which scientifically validates that greenhouse gases threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations. That finding is what allows — and compels — the federal government to limit the toxins that pollute our air and contribute to climate change. Rescinding that finding is what allows — and compels — the federal government to look the other way while the world, quite literally, burns. The EPA proposal would also, according to the New York Times, rescind limits on tailpipe emissions, freeing up the transportation sector — the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. — to spew more of the toxins that have been linked to smog, respiratory problems, cardiovascular issues and climate change. Make pollution great again. Every week, there's a new example of the upside-down logic at work in the White House: platitudes that say one thing, policies that portend another. Oregon's Cram Fire is one of 40,934 wildfires that have burned in the United States in 2025. At least 135 people were killed in Texas flash floods over the July 4 weekend, including at least 27 counselors and young girls at Camp Mystic Christian summer camp. Weather disasters have cost the United States billions of dollars so far this year. An urgent and existential threat, indeed. But the very people we elected to serve us — and save us — are working to drown out the science and the solutions that would slow the climate's deadly march. President Donald Trump would rather protect us from Rosie O'Donnell, who he called a 'threat to humanity.' He wants to strip the actress of her U.S. citizenship, claiming she is 'not in the best interests of our Great Country' because of her longtime criticism of Trump. Is this a tactic to distract us from the Epstein files? From the lawsuits against the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency? From any number of issues that don't place this administration in a flattering light? Sure. Possibly. Still, it's worth noting that threatening O'Donnell — or Bruce Springsteen, or Beyoncé or Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City — because they've criticized the president and his policies is a dangerous and wildly ill-informed approach. Criticizing the president of the United States is very much in the best interests of our great country. It's actually in the vital interests of our great country. A country that doesn't allow citizens to criticize their leaders is not a democracy. It's not where liberty or justice flourish. Criticizing the president — whatever party he belongs to — is one of the most American things you can do. The Founding Fathers believed that so strongly they codified it in the First Amendment. There are reams of court cases upholding a citizen's right to criticize the U.S. government. But you shouldn't need to check a single one to know this is all wrong. Check your gut. In a haunting guest essay in the New York Times, former U.S. ambassador to Hungary David Pressman writes about watching the rise of a strongman in Hungary and seeing the parallels all around him here. 'After years watching Hungary suffocate under the weight of its democratic collapse,' Pressman writes, 'I came to understand that the real danger of a strongman isn't his tactics; it's how others, especially those with power, justify their acquiescence.' That acquiescence doesn't happen overnight. Or by accident. So it's worth noting — and resisting — when dissent is threatened with punishment, including outright banishment. So much of what makes this nation great is at risk of disappearing: our ingenuity, our moral authority, our willingness to work toward a better, healthier, more equitable version of ourselves — a version that comes closer to the ideals set out by, if not always lived out by, our Founding Fathers. So much of what needs our urgent attention, meanwhile, is going unaddressed. The president serves the people. The people don't serve the president. And the people certainly don't owe the president quiet subservience. Not when so much of what we hold dear, so much of what's precious and vulnerable, so much of what we live for and love, is at stake.
Toronto Star
22-07-2025
- Climate
- Toronto Star
A look at megafires as an Oregon wildfire approaches the 100,000-acre mark
A wildfire burning in a sparsely populated region of central Oregon has become the largest fire this year and is on the verge of surpassing 100,000 acres to become what's officially known as a megafire. Nearly 900 personnel have been battling the Cram Fire about 100 miles (160.93 kilometers) southeast of Portland, and they have it about 73% contained with more than 95,000 acres burned.
Winnipeg Free Press
22-07-2025
- Science
- Winnipeg Free Press
A look at megafires as an Oregon wildfire approaches the 100,000-acre mark
A wildfire burning in a sparsely populated region of central Oregon has become the largest fire this year and is on the verge of surpassing 100,000 acres to become what's officially known as a megafire. Nearly 900 personnel have been battling the Cram Fire about 100 miles (160.93 kilometers) southeast of Portland, and they have it about 73% contained with more than 95,000 acres burned. Here's a look at what megafires are and their increasing frequency in the warming world. What is a megafire? A megafire is generally defined as a fire that burns at least 100,000 acres, said Craig Clements, a climate scientist and director of the Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center at San Jose State University. That translates to about 156 square miles (404 square kilometers), or about half the size of New York City, which has a land area of 300 square miles (778 square kilometers). Not all researchers agree that megafire is a scientifically sound term, though Clements has used it, and with its usage by the media increasing, he believes it's 'here to stay,' similar to 'heat dome' and other popular weather labels that aren't formal scientific terms. References to 100,000 acres as megafires can also be found in some government reports and research in recent years. Are megafires happening more often? There were at least 14 wildfires that burned more than 100,000 acres in the U.S. in 2024, according to a report by the National Interagency Coordination Center. A 2022 Interior Department report found that the number of megafires, which it defined as more than 100,000 acres, had increased in the preceding decade. The link between wildfires and climate change Wildfires naturally occur in healthy ecosystems, but extreme wildfires can slow the regrowth of native plants and trees and create favorable conditions for invasive species. The threat is growing as climate change can make wildfires more frequent and severe, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Wildfire seasons are also influenced by lightning, land management practices and human-caused fires. Fires started by humans account for 70-90% of wildfires depending on the state and year, according to the USDA. This includes fires started by fireworks or discarded cigarettes. Rising temperatures and longer droughts have dried out plants and leaves, driving wildfires in the western U.S. over the past 20 years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 'Fires are getting bigger and this has been linked to drying of fuels from a warming climate,' Clements said. 'As we are seeing play out so far this year in California, day-to-day weather plays the largest role in fire behavior,' said Clements. This includes weather conditions like low humidity and strong winds. When and how did the Cram Fire start? Firefighters responded to a fire burning on private land along U.S. Route 97 in the Willowdale area on July 13, according to Central Oregon Fire Information. It just over 2 square miles (6 square kilometers) at the time, and uncontained. By the next day, it had grown so much that Gov. Tina Kotek invoked the Emergency Conflagration Act after county officials requested assistance, allowing the Oregon State Fire Marshal to mobilize resources to support local agencies. It was the sixth time this wildfire season that the governor invoked the act. The cause is under investigation. What kind of damage has it caused? The fire has destroyed two homes and 14 outbuildings such as barns, pump houses, workshops or sheds, officials said. The threat to structures was significantly reduced when containment reached 73%, officials said Monday. Some evacuations remained in effect Monday, but some zones have been downgraded. ____ O'Malley reported from Philadelphia and Brumfield reported from Cockeysville, Maryland. ____ The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
