The forest fires from 2017 were some of the worst in history burning 2 million acres of land.  Many fires were in California. The fires cost the United States a lot of money, $1.75billion, in fighting the fires. The fires were prominent this year due to droughts in the western part of the country, like Montana, Oregon, and other states.  The United States was not the only country with the worst fires in their history, Canada had severe fires as well.  Many wildfires are started by people.  For example, a fire in Oregon was started by teenagers who threw fireworks into a dry forest.  The fires created plumes of smoke across the United States which was harmful to some people.

 

Thomas fire-California

The Thomas fire was the biggest fire in California

history. It burnt more than 280,000 acres of land

in Southern California. The fire was so large and

unconfined it also spread to Washington. The fire

grew rapidly with the help of the Santa Ana winds.

On the first day, the fire burnt 55,000 acres of

land which forced more than 27,000 people to

evacuate the area.  By the second week of the

Thomas Fire had burnt more than 200,000 acres of

land.  The flames started in December and wasn't

100% contained until early January. The cause of

the fire is unknown. 150 buildings were burnt down

and 3,000 homes were in danger of being destroyed by the fire.  

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Rice Ridge Fire-Montana

The Rice Ridge fire started on July 24 from a lighting strike. It ended on October 20, 2017. Before the fire was extinguished, it burnt about 160,000 acres of land. On September 3 it became a mega fire, burning about 100,000 acres of land and then became the main concern for the nation. Over 700 firefighters were sent to fight the fire. The fire cost $33.8 million in resources to fight the fire. 1,000 homes were threatened by the fire.  Areas north of Montana Highway 200, east of Montana Highway 83, and sections of the forest in. Missoula county were evacuated due to the fire. 

 

All in all 2017 was one of the worst years for forest fires with $1.75 billion dollars in resources being used and 2 acres of land being destroyed by the fire.