Gavin Serrano
Due to an intense drought, controlled burns in Louisiana started to become wildfires. CNN reports that “due to an increase in fire danger across Louisiana, the previous burn ban order issued August 7th has been rescinded and reissued with an update for all agricultural burns, including but not limited to prescribed burns, to be temporarily prohibited until further notice.” These fires have been reportedly terrible for local farmers, workers, and even local elderly homes, which have had to be relocated away from the fire.
There was no drought or weather warning that was foretelling that a terrible fire would break out in the middle of July. The state is dealing with extreme heat and drought. This terrible environmental event began around August 1st. In an email given to CNN, Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry spokesperson Jennifer Finely said 441 fires have burned from August 1 to August 2.” Already, these wildfires have burned around 20,000 acres or about 31 square miles. Louisiana is still experiencing severe heat and drought conditions, meaning that the wildfires have a high likelihood of continuing.”
Tiger Island is a town situated in Louisiana. The folks living there are grappling against intense fires ever witnessed in the state’s history. The Tiger Island Fire raging in Beauregard Parish, doubled in size over the weekend. State fire officials reported on Sunday that the fire expanded to cover a staggering 33,000 acres, up from an estimated 15,000 acres on Friday. The fires forced the entire town of Merryville around 1,200 residents to evacuate as of Thursday.
Louisiana is commonly accustomed to flooding and hurricanes, but droughts and fires seem to be the trade-off. In fact, it is the opposite of what they experience most of the time. In an interview given to CNN “Nobody alive in Louisiana has ever seen these conditions,” Edwards said. “It’s never been this hot, this dry, for this long.” CNN explains the fire starts at the top of the tree due to high winds, which makes it difficult for firefighters to terminate such fires. These fires are very dangerous when combined with high winds, so as of right now, Louisiana is facing a hard future until these fires are successfully put out.
As of today, August 31st, the fires are still raging. There are over 1,200 firefighters that have their boots firmly planted to fight this fire. So far there have been 500 large fires across Louisiana this month.“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Craig Burkett, Kenner Firefighter. “The fire didn’t care. It burned everything.” Quotes cannot explain the devastation these wildfires have brought, so let’s hope the next update we have will be how the fire is officially put out. We can only hope that nothing like this will happen as catastrophic as this. Hopefully in the future fires will become a rarity rather than the norm.
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