Wildfires Threaten Homes in Oregon, California

Thousands of homes in Northern California wine country and central Oregon were under evacuation orders and warnings as firefighting crews battled wildfires in dry, hot weather. Details from the AP:

• In California, the Pickett Fire, which had charred about 10 square miles of Napa County, was just 11% contained by Sunday evening, according to the California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection, or Cal Fire. About 150 people were ordered to leave their homes, while another 360 were under evacuation warnings as the fire threatened 500 structures near Aetna Springs and Pope Valley, 80 miles north of San Francisco, said Cal Fire rep Jason Clay.
• In Oregon, the 29-square-mile Flat Fire in Deschutes and Jefferson counties had about 4,000 homes under various levels of evacuation notice, including 1,000 with orders on Sunday to leave immediately, according to the state Fire Marshal's Office.

• Residents of the western United States have been sweltering in a heat wave that hospitalized some people, with temperatures hitting dangerous levels throughout the weekend in Washington, Oregon, Southern California, Nevada, and Arizona.
• The Pickett Fire began in the same area as the much larger Glass Fire in 2020, which crossed into Sonoma County and eventually burned about 105 square miles and more than 1,500 structures. The 2020 blaze was driven by wind, while the current conflagration is fueled mainly by dry vegetation on steep slopes—some of it dead and downed trees left over from the Glass Fire and some of it grass and brush that grew back and then dried out again.