US’ biggest wildfire of the year has consumed over 95,740 acres, according to central Oregon fire authorities on Sunday, with ground teams achieving partial containment of the blaze, which still has potential to expand into a megafire.Officials, quoted by NBC News, revised the Cram Fire’s size slightly lower from Saturday after completing more precise mapping. The extensive fire, which has involved more than 900 firefighting personnel, destroyed several homes and led to evacuations across two counties, is now 49% contained following last week’s challenging containment efforts.“Yesterday was another favorable day with us with the weather, and so a lot of good work was done,” Scott Stutzman, operations section chief of the Oregon State Fire Marshal, said Sunday in a Facebook video. “We’ll have those crews out there continuing to maintain a presence mopping up, and also assisting our wildland partners on the perimeter.”The weekend’s lower temperatures and increased humidity are forecast to persist into early week, potentially supporting firefighting operations. The fire’s extent remains significant: reaching 100,000 acres would classify it as a megafire, marking the first in the USA for 2025, according to Stanton Florea, spokesman for the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, which oversees national wildland firefighting operations.Federal data indicates Oregon experienced six megafires last year.This occurrence, while previously uncommon, has increased in frequency alongside the general expansion and intensification of wildfires.According to Florea, megafires are increasingly frequent, with extended fire seasons – now termed ‘fire year’ – and more intense, longer-lasting fires.This year has witnessed 40,934 wildfires, the highest count in at least ten years, according to National Interagency Fire Center statistics.A 2023 Congressional Research Service report noted that of 1.6 million wildfires since 2000, only 254 exceeded 100,000 acres, with merely 16 reaching 500,000 acres. “A small fraction of wildfires become catastrophic, and a small percentage of fires accounts for the vast majority of acres burned,” the service said, according to NBC. “For example, about 1% of wildfires become conflagrations — raging, destructive fires — but predicting which fires will ‘blow up’ into conflagrations is challenging and depends on a multitude of factors, such as weather and geography.“Recent studies suggest human-induced global warming increases the likelihood of extreme weather conditions, including extended drought and strong winds. This enables wildfires to ignite unexpectedly and rapidly increase in intensity.The Cram Fire, causing evacuations in Jefferson and Wasco counties, began a week ago, expanding rapidly amid extremely hot, dry and windy western conditions. The cause remains uncertain.While 88 engines and eight helicopters remain deployed to contain the Cram Fire, Sunday’s announcement from the Oregon State Fire Marshal indicated plans to adjust their response as containment improves.The fire has destroyed four homes and two additional structures. Officials report reduced threat to residential areas.
