Air quality hit as 20 large fires burn across western U.S.
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Firefighters from the Los Angeles Fire Department and other firemen respond to the Post Fire as it burns through the Hungry Valley State Vehicular Recreation Area in Lebec, California, on June 16. Photo: David Swanson/AFP via Getty Images
Hot, gusty winds in California were spurring seven large fires across the state Monday evening — including the state's largest of the 2024 season, the Post Fire, which has forced hundreds of people to evacuate since the weekend.
The big picture: Air quality was affected across California and also New Mexico — where the South Fork Fire, one of three in New Mexico, prompted the Village of Ruidoso to issue mandatory evacuation orders for the town of nearly 7,700 people after it exploded in size in windy conditions.
Threat level: A red flag warning was in effect for portions of western and northern N. Mex. until 9pm local time due to "very low humidity, gusty winds and unstable atmosphere," per the NWS.
- In California, a red flag warning was in effect until 6pm Tuesday local time for the Interstate-5 corridor in northwest Los Angeles County and the Ventura County mountains due to critical fire weather conditions, affecting over 13.7 million people.
State of play: The Post Fire, north of Los Angeles, which began on Saturday, had burned across more than 15,600 acres over Los Angeles and Ventura counties and was 8% contained by Monday afternoon, per the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection agency.
- California evacuation orders were in place for areas west of Interstate 5 between Pyramid Lake and Gorman, including the Hungry Valley State Vehicular Recreation Area from where 1,200 campers were evacuated on Saturday.
- The order was expanded to include all Dry Creek Valley residents Sunday and an evacuation warning was in place for areas south of Pyramid Lake.
- The Post Fire has injured one person and destroyed at least one structure as of Monday evening, per Cal Fire.
- An emergency was declared Monday evening in Sonoma County in response to the Point Fire, which had burned across over 1,200 acres and was confirmed to have injured one person and destroyed two homes. The blaze that began on Sunday was 20% contained as of Monday evening.
In New Mexico, the South Fork Fire that was discovered on Monday morning had grown to more than 5,200 acres by late Monday and was 0% contained, per the New Mexico Forestry Division.
Zoom out: Other large fires burning in the U.S. were in Arizona (4), Washington (2), Colorado (2), Oregon (1), Utah (1), according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
Between the lines: Research shows climate change is driving longer wildfire seasons in the western U.S. and has made severe seasons more frequent.
Go deeper: Climate change reversing gains in air quality across the U.S.
Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.
