REDDING, CA—As they confronted a complex meta-conflagration said to be a result of the region’s record-breaking heat wave, California fire officials told reporters Monday that unrelenting high temperatures had caused a wildfire to catch fire along a section of Interstate 5. “Between an extreme drought and a historically hot summer, the conditions were perfect for this wildfire to go up in flames, especially given that it was already on fire,” said Thom Porter, director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, who issued an immediate burn ban prohibiting campfires and suspending all residential burn permits in parts of the state that were currently on fire. “Those flames were like a tinderbox, just waiting to ignite, and once they did, the fire spread throughout the fire very quickly. At this point, the wildfire has suffered extensive damage from the blaze, which continues to rage across wide swaths of Shasta County that are already burning. Forecasts are showing the heat will continue, so what we’re worried about now is the possibility that the fire’s fire will catch fire.” At press time, reports confirmed firefighters were desperately attempting to evacuate as much of the wildfire as possible, moving it to safety across a firebreak they had spent the morning constructing.
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