Air tanker pilot killed as US wildfires spread

An air tanker pilot is dead after his plane went down battling wildfires in the United States.

Search and rescue teams found the small single-engine air tanker after it disappeared while fighting the 219-square-mile (567 square kilometres) Falls Fire burning in Oregon’s east.

The pilot died, said Bureau of Land Management information officer Lisa Clark, but no one else was aboard the aircraft when it went down in steep, forested terrain.

According to the National Interagency Fire Centre, more than 110 active fires covering 2,800 square miles (7,250 square kilometres) burned in the US on Friday.

Some were caused by the weather, with climate change increasing the frequency of lightning strikes as the region endures record heat and bone-dry conditions.

Late on Friday, a new wildfire blew up in eastern Washington, threatening homes, the railroad, Interstate 90, and the local community, which was evacuated. The Columbia Basin fire closed part of Highway 904 between the interstate and Cheney, Washington.

According to the Washington State Patrol, multiple planes, helicopters, and fire personnel worked hard to contain the fire.

Others were caused by humans, like the Park Fire burning in California.

Carli Parker is one of hundreds who fled their homes this week as the Park Fire pushed close.

Ms Parker decided to leave her Forest Ranch residence with her family when the fire began burning across the street. She has previously been forced out of two homes by fire, and she said she had little hope that her residence would remain unscathed.

“I think I felt like I was in danger because the police had come to our house because we had signed up for early evacuation warnings, and they were running to their vehicle after telling us that we need to self-evacuate and they would not come back,” Ms Parker said.

More than 130 structures have been destroyed by the fire, and thousands more remain threatened.

California’s largest active wildfire began when a man pushed a burning car into a gully in Chico in the state’s north and then calmly blended in with others fleeing the scene, authorities said.

Ronnie Dean Stout, 42, of Chico, was arrested early on Thursday and held without bail pending a Monday arraignment, officials said.

There was no reply to an email to the district attorney asking whether the suspect had legal representation or someone who could comment on his behalf.

By midday on Friday, the fire had burned more than 278 square miles (720 square kilometres). It remained completely uncontained.

Fire crews were making progress on another complex of fires burning in the Plumas National Forest near the California-Nevada state border, said Forest Service spokesperson Adrienne Freeman.

Evacuee Sherry Alpers fled with her 12 small dogs and decided to stay in her car outside a Red Cross shelter in Chico after learning that animals would not be allowed inside.

She ruled out travelling to another shelter after learning the dogs would be kept in cages since her dogs have always roamed free at her home.

Ms Alpers said she does not know whether the fire spared her home, but she said that as long as her dogs are safe, she does not care about material things.

“I’m kind of worried, but not that much,” she said. “If it’s gone, it’s gone.”

In Idaho, lightning strikes sparked fast-moving wildfires and the evacuation of multiple communities, including one where a man drove past a building and trees engulfed in flames as a tunnel of smoke rose over the roadway.

Oregon still has the biggest active blaze in the United States, the Durkee Fire, which combined with the Cow Fire to burn nearly 630 square miles (1,630 square kilometres).

According to the government website InciWeb, it remains unpredictable and was only 20% contained.

The National Interagency Fire Centre said more than 27,000 fires have burned more than 5,800 square miles (15,000 square kilometres) in the US this year.

In Canada, more than 8,000 square miles (22,800 square kilometres) have burned in more than 3,700 fires so far, according to its National Wildland Fire Situation Report.