Governor Bel Edwards stated: Seventeen parishes have declared an emergency due to ongoing wildfires, but the risk is statewide. No matter where you live in Louisiana, we need your help. Spread the word: do not burn anything... We are all praying for rain!
On Friday alone, crews fought between 25 and 30 wildfires across Louisiana, including in the parishes of Beauregard, Rapides, Washington, Tangipahoa and St. John the Baptist. State officials are calling the wildfires unprecedented. Record high heat and a scarcity of rainfall have turned much of rural Louisiana into a tinderbox, with state officials reporting more than 440 wildfires and counting, this summer as of Friday and more than 60,000 acres of damaged or destroyed land.
Current Wildfires Burning in the U.S. (Partial List)
California. 27 fires. 184,844 acres.
Texas. 317 fires. 66,995 acres.
Montana. 26 fires. 26,937 acres.
Washington. 23 fires. 13,621 acres.
New Jersey. 2 fires. 6,324 acres.
New Mexico. 13 fires. 4,603 acres.
Arizona. 12 fires. 1,731 acres.
Colorado. 13 fires. 1,179 acres.
An entire town in southwestern Louisiana is under mandatory evacuation orders because of a wildfire that state officials say is the largest they have ever seen. Usually during this time of year, the Deep South state is addressing threats of imminent hurricanes, tropical storms and flooding. But this summer Louisiana has been plagued by record-breaking heat and extreme drought, which have made the wildfire risk unusually high. Louisiana's largest blaze, the Tiger Island Fire in Beauregard Parish, has already burned an estimated 23 square miles — accounting for more acres of burned land than the state usually has in an entire year.
The fire forced the 1,200 residents of Merryville, a rural town just east of the Texas border, to evacuate Thursday night. "All of a sudden there was smoke behind my house," Merryville evacuee Linda Schank told CBS News. "And this helicopter came and dropped this big old bucket of water." While nearly all of Louisiana is abnormally dry for this time of year, half of the state is facing "extreme" or "exceptional" drought, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
"Nobody alive in Louisiana today has ever seen these conditions. It has never been this hot and dry for this long," Edwards said during Friday's news conference. The state has faced scorching temperatures this summer. Last week, Edwards declared a state of emergency because of extreme heat. In all, 17 parishes have declared a state of emergency for wildfires, most in the forested central and western sections of Louisiana, but also in some of the pine-laden Florida Parishes along its Mississippi border, as well as St. John the Baptist, Orleans and St. Bernard parishes in the southeast where dry swampland and coastal marsh are prevalent.
While nearly all of Louisiana is abnormally dry for this time of year, half of the state is facing "extreme" or "exceptional" drought, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "Nobody alive in Louisiana today has ever seen these conditions. It has never been this hot and dry for this long," Edwards said during Friday's news conference. The state has faced scorching temperatures this summer. Last week, Edwards declared a state of emergency because of extreme heat. The Beauregard Parish Sheriff’s Office estimates 50,000 to 60,000 acres have burned so far. While the Tiger Isle fire between Merryville and Singer has consumed the most acreages, seven other fires popped up, according to the sheriff’s office.
The governor said 21 homes in Beauregard Parish have been destroyed by fire in recent days, but there have been injuries or loss of life. Police went door to door Saturday afternoon in threatened areas to alert residents of the danger and to be prepared in case of an evacuation order. In the parish seat of DeRidder, nursing homes were evacuated out of an abundance of caution because of the fast-moving nature of the Tiger Isle fire, just 10 miles southwest of the city.