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Northern California wildfire triggers evacuations as 70 large blazes burn across West

18 July 2021
 Dan Ackermann

A fast-growing wildfire in northern California led to evacuation orders, a highway closure and a bike event cancelation — as the threat of "dry lightning" prompted red flag warnings to be issued across the state.

The big picture: The Tamarack Fire, south of Lake Tahoe near the Nevada border, is among 70 large fires burning across over a million acres in the U.S., including nine in California. It comes as another heat wave grips the country, this time with the intensity focused on the northwest and northern areas.

A Red Flag Warning has been issued due to the threat of dry lightning starting late Sunday morning and lasting through Monday afternoon.

Be sure to stay weather aware and have a plan if a fire starts in your area.#CAwxpic.twitter.com/F1uJ1QATKc

— NWS Bay Area (@NWSBayArea) July 17, 2021

What's happening: The Tamarack Fire was being driven by "gusty winds" and "critically dry fuels" as it was burning uncontained near the town of Markleeville, per a statement from Humboldt Toiyabe National Forest. It has razed some 21,000 acres after being ignited by lightning on July 4.

  • Mandatory evacuation orders were issued for several nearby areas, forcing Death Ride, to cancel its extreme bike event through the Sierra Nevada Saturday, according to a statement posted to its website.
  • "The fire left thousands of bikers and spectators stranded in the small town and racing to get out," AP reports. The blaze also saw part of Highway 89 close, at the intersection of Highway 4.
  • A red flag warning was also in effect for the Bootleg Fire in southern Oregon, currently the largest wildfire in the U.S. — which grew to 281,208 acres and was 22% contained Saturday, per InciWeb.

By the numbers: 17 wildfires were burning in Idaho, 13 in Montana, nine in Oregon, seven in Washington state, six in Alaska, four in Arizona, two in Wyoming, and one apiece in Colorado, Utah and Minnesota, National Interagency Fire Center statistics show.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.