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The Bootleg Fire, named after the nearby Bootleg Spring, was a large wildfire that started near Beatty, Oregon, on July 6, 2021. Before being fully contained on August 15, 2021, it had burned 413,765 acres (167,445 ha; 1,674 km2; 647 sq mi).[2] It is the third-largest fire in the history of Oregon since 1900.[3][4] At the fire's fastest growth in mid July, it grew at about 1,000 acres (400 ha) per hour,[5] and it became the second largest wildfire in the United States of the 2021 wildfire season.[6][7]

Events

July

The Bootleg Fire was first reported on July 6, 2021, at around 1:42 pm PDT near Beatty, Oregon.[2] The Bootleg Fire merged with the smaller Log Fire to the east on July 19, 2021.[8][9]

As the Bootleg Fire burned east, it approached Mitchell Monument, a memorial to the only civilians killed in the 48 U.S. states during World War II. To protect the historic site, fire crews trimmed low-hanging tree branches and built a fire line around the monument site. They also wrapped the tree scarred by the Japanese balloon bomb explosion and the stone monument in a fire-resistant material similar to the material used for firefighters' emergency shelters. As a result, when the fire passed through the adjacent forest, the monument was undamaged.[10][11]

Cause

Lightning was the cause of the fire.[2]

Containment

The fire was 100% contained on August 15, 2021.[12] At one point, over 2,200 personnel were fighting the fire.[13]

Impact

Closures and evacuations

Several hundred square miles of southern Oregon, in Klamath and Lake counties, were under evacuation orders of various degrees of severity.[14]

Damage

A total of 408 buildings were destroyed by the fire, including 161 houses and 247 outbuildings.[1] The fire also destroyed 342 vehicles.[1] The historic Merritt Creek trestle along the OC&E Woods Line State Trail was also destroyed.[15] Most of the burned forestland was owned by Green Diamond Resource Company, who had used the trees for carbon offsets. An estimated 4.2 million new seedlings are planned to be planted in the burn zone to offset the loss of the original trees.[16]

Weather

The fire contributed to haze across the United States and vivid red sunrises and sunsets as far away as Boston and New York City.[17][18] Heat and smoke from the Bootleg Fire generated pyrocumulus and pyrocumulonimbus clouds, some reaching as high as 45,000 feet (14,000 m) and bringing lightning strikes and precipitation.[3][7] There were reports of small fire whirls, and officials believed that at least one actual fire tornado formed in the southeastern portion of the fire on July 18.[7][19]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Bootleg Fire Daily Update July 27". InciWeb. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "Bootleg Fire Information - InciWeb the Incident Information System". inciweb.nwcg.gov. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Joe Sutton, Michael Guy and Hollie Silverman (July 21, 2021). "The Bootleg Fire in Oregon is so large, it's creating its own weather". CNN. Retrieved July 22, 2021.
  4. ^ "Oregon's largest wildfires". The Oregonian. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  5. ^ Aya Elamroussi (July 16, 2021). "The largest wildfire in the US has grown about 1,000 acres every hour". CNN. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
  6. ^ Furman, Mark (July 13, 2021). "Bootleg Fire in Oregon largest conflagration in nation". KATU. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
  7. ^ a b c Fountain, Henry (July 19, 2021). "How Bad Is the Bootleg Fire? It's Generating Its Own Weather". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  8. ^ "Bootleg Fire merges with Log Fire". KOBI (TV). July 19, 2021. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  9. ^ "Bootleg Fire Daily Update July 20". InciWeb. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  10. ^ Perry, Douglas, "Bootleg Fire Crews Save Monument to WWII Tragedy", Oregonian/OregonLive, Portland, Oregon, July 20, 2021.
  11. ^ Perry, Douglas, "Crews Saved a World War II Memorial from the Bootleg Fire", New York Times, New York, New York, July 21, 2021.
  12. ^ Kimberley Freda (August 15, 2021). "Good news on fires: Bootleg Fire 100% contained, cooler weather coming". Oregon Public Broadcasting.
  13. ^ "Bootleg Fire Information - InciWeb the Incident Information System". inciweb.nwcg.gov. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  14. ^ "Bootleg Fire Evacuation Map". kcgis.maps.arcgis.com.
  15. ^ "OC&E Woods Line State Trail" (brochure). Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  16. ^ Bernton, Hal (August 16, 2023). "A giant Oregon fire shows the limits of carbon offsets in fighting climate change". The Seattle Times. Oregon Public Broadcasting. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  17. ^ Schwartz, John (July 20, 2021). "Why is the sun red? Wildfire smoke from a continent away spreads to New York". The New York Times. Retrieved August 17, 2023. The Bootleg Fire in Oregon now covers more than 388,000 acres... smoke from that fire and others making its way across wide swaths of the United States and Canada. It first reached New York City around July 15.
  18. ^ Doyle Rice (July 21, 2021). "'Monster' Bootleg Fire in Oregon grows as dozens of blazes char western US". USA Today. The nation's largest wildfire grew Wednesday as smoke from dozens of blazes in the West spread across the country, leading to hazy skies as far east as Boston and New York City.
  19. ^ Siess, Joe (July 26, 2021). "Bootleg Fire formed a tornado, with wind speeds higher than 111 mph". Herald and News. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bootleg_Fire