A huge fire is currently ravaging the Mojave Desert and caused “fire tornadoes” this weekend in the region straddling California and Nevada, where many Joshua trees grow, according to US authorities. The ‘York Fire’ broke out on Friday and is now over 300 square kilometers, uncontained at all yet, despite the efforts of more than 250 firefighters, according to a bulletin from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). ), a federal agency in charge of the area.
“Windy weather has a big impact on fire behavior,” the agency pointed out. “In some locations, firefighters on the north side of the fire observed fire tornadoes. Unpredictable, these columns of swirling flames are extremely dangerous for firefighters. They can “spread embers over long distances and start new fires at the front of the main front,” recalls the BLM.
The blaze spread to Nevada on Sunday, with flames sometimes rising up to six meters high, but has not prompted any evacuations so far. This fire is a disaster for the Mojave Desert, a protected area known for its biodiversity in the United States. In addition to the turtles, foxes and lynxes that roam this territory, this national park is also home to many Joshua trees, a species so emblematic of the American West that the rock group U2 planted it on the cover of their album. “Joshua Tree”.
These trees and their branches topped with thorns are now threatened by global warming. In June, the California parliament passed a law to protect them, in particular by creating a fund dedicated to their protection. In 2020, another fire, the “Dome Fire”, killed 1.3 million of these trees in California. The extreme temperatures prevailing in the desert currently make the task of firefighters particularly difficult, the BLM pointed out.
The origin of the “York Fire” remains unknown at this time. The fire started in the middle of a heat wave, which is currently affecting the American Southwest. In Nevada, Las Vegas is currently going through one of its hottest Julys on record. In neighboring Arizona, the city of Phoenix just suffered more than 31 days in a row where the mercury exceeded 43.3°C (110° Fahrenheit).
