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Wildfires spark evacuations in 3 states as heat wave grips West

11 July 2021
Dan Ackermann

Extreme heat gripping the West is spurring wildfires across California, Oregon and Idaho.

Driving the news: Oregon's Bootleg fire was threatening transmission lines that supply California with power after doubling in size to 120 square miles on Saturday, while a huge wildfire in Northern California's Plumas National Forest "generated its own lightning," per the Los Angeles Times.

Sunrise uncovers streams of smoke from several large wildfires in the #PacNW this morning. #orwx#wawxpic.twitter.com/bNcoNQpyMx

— NWS Pendleton (@NWSPendleton) July 10, 2021

Threat level: The California blaze, the combination of two fires in the Plumas National Forest known as the Beckwourth Complex, saw the evacuation of 2,800 people and the closure of the forest, AP notes.

  • The complex's Sugar fire has burned across 54,421 acres and was 8% contained Saturday, per the L.A. Times. Its other blaze, the Dotta fire, has razed 670 acres and was 80% contained.
  • The southern Oregon wildfire triggered mandatory evacuations as it threatened some 3,000 homes, CBS News reports.
  • A brush fire in Southern California's eastern San Diego County saw two Native American reservations evacuated on Saturday.
  • There were also evacuations in the small, remote community of Dixie in north-central Idaho, according to AP.

The big picture: California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday built on his emergency proclamation made a day earlier to free up additional energy capacity.

  • Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) issued an emergency declaration for wildfire on Friday that mobilized National Guard firefighters and aircraft to assist in firefighting efforts.

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.