SHAVER LAKE, CA - SEPTEMBER 06: Firefighters conduct a back burn operation along CA-168 during the Creek Fire as it approaches the Shaver Lake Marina on Sunday, Sept. 6, 2020 in Shaver Lake, CA. (Kent Nishimura / Lo...SHAVER LAKE, CA - SEPTEMBER 06: Firefighters conduct a back burn operation along CA-168 during the Creek Fire as it approaches the Shaver Lake Marina on Sunday, Sept. 6, 2020 in Shaver Lake, CA. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)MORE LESS
The West Coast is embroiled in its own climate crisis as large swaths of the region have been overtaken by an unprecedented wildfire season.
According to the National Weather Service, millions of acres in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Arizona are under “critical” and “elevated” fire weather risk.
As the fires rage across the West Coast, thousands have had to evacuate as air pollution levels amid smoke and orange skies have become “hazardous” in some areas.
Below are photos documenting the unrelenting blaze:
A boat motors by as the Bidwell Bar Bridge is surrounded by fire in Lake Oroville during the Bear fire in Oroville, California on September 9, 2020. – Dangerous dry winds whipped up California’s record-breaking wildfires and ignited new blazes Tuesday, as hundreds were evacuated by helicopter and tens of thousands were plunged into darkness by power outages across the western United States. (Photo by JOSH EDELSON / AFP) (Photo by JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images)
A firefighter douses flames as they push towards homes during the Creek fire in the Cascadel Woods area of unincorporated Madera County, California on September 7, 2020. – A firework at a gender reveal party triggered a wildfire in southern California that has destroyed 7,000 acres (2,800 hectares) and forced many residents to flee their homes, the fire department said Sunday. More than 500 firefighters and four helicopters were battling the El Dorado blaze east of San Bernardino, which started Saturday morning, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said. (Photo by JOSH EDELSON / AFP) (Photo by JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images)
A home is engulfed in flames during the “Creek Fire” in the Tollhouse area of unincorporated Fresno County, California early on September 8, 2020. – Wildfires in California have torched a record more than two million acres, the state fire department said on September 7, as smoke hampered efforts to airlift dozens of people trapped by an uncontrolled blaze. (Photo by JOSH EDELSON / AFP) (Photo by JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images)
Butte County firefighters watch as flames quickly spread across a road at the Bear fire in Oroville, California on September 9, 2020. – Dangerous dry winds whipped up California’s record-breaking wildfires and ignited new blazes, as hundreds were evacuated by helicopter and tens of thousands were plunged into darkness by power outages across the western United States. (Photo by JOSH EDELSON / AFP) (Photo by JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images)
TOPSHOT – A home burns during the Bear fire, part of the North Lightning Complex fires in the Berry Creek area of unincorporated Butte County, California on September 9, 2020. – Dangerous dry winds whipped up California’s record-breaking wildfires and ignited new blazes, as hundreds were evacuated by helicopter and tens of thousands were plunged into darkness by power outages across the western United States. (Photo by JOSH EDELSON / AFP) (Photo by JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images)
AUBERRY, CA – SEPTEMBER 08: Power lines are cast in silhouette as the Creek Fire creeps up on on the Shaver Springs community off of Tollhouse Road on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020 in Auberry, CA. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
San Miguel County Firefighters battle a brush fire along Japatul Road during the Valley Fire in Jamul, California on September 6, 2020 – The Valley Fire in the Japatul Valley burned 4,000 acres overnight with no containment and 10 structures destroyed, Cal Fire San Diego said. (Photo by SANDY HUFFAKER / AFP) (Photo by SANDY HUFFAKER/AFP via Getty Images)
A burned Valero gas station smolders during the Creek fire in an unincorporated area of Fresno County, California on September 08, 2020. – Wildfires in California have torched a record more than two million acres, the state fire department said on September 7, as smoke hampered efforts to airlift dozens of people trapped by an uncontrolled blaze. (Photo by JOSH EDELSON / AFP) (Photo by JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images)
SHAVER LAKE, CA – SEPTEMBER 8: Embers fall around a photographer as the Creek Fire rapidly expands on September 8, 2020 near Shaver Lake, California. California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in five California counties late yesterday as record heatwave temperatures fueled numerous wildfires over the Labor Day weekend. The state of emergency applies to Fresno, Madera and Mariposa, San Bernardino and San Diego counties. The Creek Fire has burned across more than 135,523 acres and is zero percent contained. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
A Butte county firefighter douses flames at the Bear fire in Oroville, California on September 9, 2020. – Dangerous dry winds whipped up California’s record-breaking wildfires and ignited new blazes, as hundreds were evacuated by helicopter and tens of thousands were plunged into darkness by power outages across the western United States. (Photo by JOSH EDELSON / AFP) (Photo by JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images)
TOPSHOT – Firefighters cut defensive lines and light backfires to protect structures behind a CalFire fire station during the Bear fire, part of the North Lightning Complex fires in the Berry Creek area of unincorporated Butte County, California on September 9, 2020. – Dangerous dry winds whipped up California’s record-breaking wildfires and ignited new blazes, as hundreds were evacuated by helicopter and tens of thousands were plunged into darkness by power outages across the western United States. (Photo by JOSH EDELSON / AFP) (Photo by JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images)
A law enforcement officer watches flames launch into the air as fire continues to spread during the Bear fire in Oroville, California on September 9, 2020. – Dangerous dry winds whipped up California’s record-breaking wildfires and ignited new blazes, as hundreds were evacuated by helicopter and tens of thousands were plunged into darkness by power outages across the western United States. (Photo by JOSH EDELSON / AFP) (Photo by JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images)
Summer Concepcion
is a newswriter for TPM based in New York. She previously covered the 2016 election for Fusion, conducted investigative research for The Nation Institute, and has written for NBC Chicago and the Chicago Reader.
