Wildfire 2021

Tuck the sleeping bag in the closet and put the tent back in the garage. If you were expecting to camp in one of California's National Forests this Labor Day weekend, you'll need to make other plans.

The two natural disasters — the coronavirus and record-setting Western wildfires spewing air toxins — converged to exacerbate the pandemic’s health toll last year in California, Oregon and Washington, according to a study published Friday in the journal Science Advances.

The small town of Chester survived a fast-approaching firefront. But residents and visitors may be leery to return to the mountain town with so many fires devastating the Golden State.

On Aug. 16, the Bootleg Fire in Southern Oregon reached 100% containment. JPR’s Erik Neumann spoke with Lisa Ellsworth, an assistant professor at Oregon State University who studies fire ecology about what comes next.

This fire season has been longer and more severe than usual in Oregon and across the West. With the latest hot weather and lightning, state fire officials say it could get worse.

"Where [Gary] Maynard went, fires started. Not just once, but over and over again," the government said in a court memorandum.

Northern California's Dixie Fire, which has destroyed hundreds of buildings and entire communities, is now considered the second largest in state history.

The fire raging in Northern California was whipped up by high temperatures and strong winds. It incinerated much of the Gold Rush-era community of Greenville earlier this week.

The wildfire tore through Greenville, a town dating back to the Gold Rush Era, in the northern Sierra Nevada. The wildfire is currently the largest in California.

As Oregon continues to experience high temperatures and wildfire smoke, the state has enacted two new temporary rules to protect workers laboring in excessive heat and wildfire smoke.

Thunderstorms that included around 700 lightning strikes lit fires in the Rogue River-Siskiyou and Klamath National Forests Sunday night.