Oregon [US], July 27: Winds and lightning strikes have sparked and fanned wildfires across the Pacific Northwest this week, including the largest fire in the United States, which was rapidly expanding near the Oregon-Idaho border on Friday.
In a statement carried by Reuters, authorities said that the Durkee Fire near Huntington, Oregon, about 100 miles (160 km) north of Boise, Idaho, has scorched 600 square miles (1,553 square km), an area more than half the size of Rhode Island's land mass. It is threatening several towns.
The blaze was set off by lightning on 17th July, and wind gusts up to 60 mph (97 kph) drove the flames across brush, timberland and ranches, killing hundreds of cattle. The fire was only 20 percent contained on Friday, officials said.
As of Thursday, wildfires this year have burned almost 1 million acres (405,000 hectares) in Oregon and 125,900 acres in Washington, according to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Centre in Portland, Oregon.
Source: Emirates News Agency