Wildfire Burning in the Fremont-Winema National Forest — Currently Largest in the U.S.

Drought-stricken U.S. Western states are dealing with wildfires that are quickly advancing through the wilderness and burning everything in their path. The high-pressure system that created the intense weather, the second heat wave of the year, was showing signs of weakening. Nevertheless, temperatures are forecast to remain above normal for firefighters on the lines of more than 60 active large wildfires burning in the West and Alaska. According to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), more than 14,000 firefighters and support personnel are attacking fires covering close to a million acres of land. The NIFC is reporting that the largest fire in the United States was incinerating huge swaths of the Fremont-Winema National Forest in southern Oregon, where firefighters received a warning about conditions from incident commander Al Lawson. “As you go out there today, adjust your reality,” he said. “We have not seen a fire move like this, in these conditions, this early in the year. Expect the fire to do things that you have not seen before.”