California fire officials report first wildfire death of the 2024 season

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A wildfire that authorities say was fueled by strong winds has led to the first death in California of the 2024 season.

Mendocino County officials say they found human remains in a home of a woman that had burned in a fire that started Monday.

The coroner’s office is working to identify the body. But it may be that of a 66-year-old woman whose family reported her missing. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as CalFire, confirmed the discovery of the remains.

Authorities in Western states warned of the rising risk of wildfires amid a protracted heat wave this week that dried out the landscape, set temperature records and put lives at risk.

In Arizona, at least nine homes on San Carlos Apache reservation about two hours east of Phoenix had been destroyed by the blaze known as the Watch Fire, but no injuries of deaths have been reported, said Robyn Broyles, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The fire was at 0% containment Friday, she said, and had so far burned nearly 2 square miles (5.2 square kilometers) in an area of the reservation blanketed by thick shrubs and cottonwood trees.

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Officials said the fire began Thursday afternoon and spilled into the downtown area of the reservation that, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, is home to about 10,200 people.

Meanwhile, California’s top fire official said this week that so far this year, the state has responded to more than 3,500 wildfires that have scorched nearly 325 square miles (842 square kilometers) — five times the average burned through July 10 in each of the past five years.

“We are not just in a fire season, but we are in a fire year,” Joe Tyler, director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said at a news conference. “Our winds and the recent heat wave have exacerbated the issue, consuming thousands of acres. So we need to be extra cautious.”

California crews working in scorching temperatures and single-digit humidity were battling numerous wildfires Thursday, including a stubborn 53-square-mile (137-square-kilometer) blaze that prompted evacuation orders for about 200 homes in the mountains of Santa Barbara County northwest of Los Angeles. It was 16% contained.

California’s fires began in earnest in early June, following back-to-back wet winters that pulled the state out of drought but spawned abundant grasses that have since dried out. A June blitz of lightning ignited some of the fires, a risk that may return with thunderstorms in the Sierra Nevada this weekend, forecasters said.

In Oregon, fire crews continued Thursday to fight the Larch Creek Fire, which grew to at least 16.6 square miles (43 square kilometers) of grassy areas since Tuesday. Lower temperatures and calming winds were helping their efforts, but the local fire danger level remained extreme. One firefighter was treated for heat-related injuries.

Officials in Oregon and Washington state have imposed burn bans and other restrictions to avoid sparks. Campfires, operating chainsaws and target shooting are prohibited in most areas. Central Oregon limits the use of chainsaws and grass mowing to certain hours, followed by a one-hour fire watch.

In Hawaii, Haleakala National Park on Maui was closed as firefighters battled a blaze on the slopes of the mountain. Visitors in more than 150 vehicles that had gone up Wednesday for the famous sunset views were not able to descend until around 4 a.m. Thursday because the narrow roads were blocked by fire crews.

No homes were immediately threatened, but some residents were told to prepare for possible evacuations. The 40 mph (64 kph) wind speeds were a concern for firefighters, Maui Fire Department spokesperson Chris Stankis said. “The winds are a little stronger than our typical trade winds,” he said.

The blaze is several miles from an area where 26 structures burned during deadly wind-driven wildfires on Maui last August. “But the residents who lost homes are scared,” said Yuki Lei Sugimura, who represents the area on the Maui County Council. “It’s like PTSD.”

Forecasters, meanwhile, said Thursday that some relief from the heat was due by the weekend.

More than 51 million people around the U.S. remained under heat alerts Friday, a significant reduction from earlier this week.

The U.S. heat wave came as the global temperature in June was a record warm for the 13th straight month and marked the 12th straight month that the world was 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than pre-industrial times, the European climate service Copernicus said. Most of this heat, trapped by human-caused climate change, is from long-term warming from greenhouse gases emitted by the burning of coal, oil and natural gas, scientists say.

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Yamat reported from Las Vegas. Associated Press journalists Jennifer Kelleher in Honolulu; Tran Nguyen in Sacramento, California; John Antczak in Los Angeles; Anita Snow in Phoenix; Martha Bellisle in Seattle; and Bruce Shipkowski in Toms River, New Jersey, contributed to this report.