Fire Managers with the Bureau of Indian Affairs are monitoring several lightning-sparked wildfires on the Navajo Nation.
One fire is burning atop a ridge northeast of Navajo, New Mexico and is not accessible to firefighters. Another fire northeast of the Chuska Mountains has received heavy rainfall within the last 24 hours and no smoke is visible at this time. Two others are burning in Whiteclay and Wheatfields on the Navajo Nation in Arizona. Thunderstorms and heavy precipitation in the areas have created muddy roads which are delaying response time for fire resources. BIA managers predict the fire spread will be low due to high humidity and rainfall. However, all residents are encouraged to avoid the wildfire areas, as well as access roads and trails.
Meanwhile, smoke from wildfires in the western U.S. and Canada is blanketing much of the continent and reaching unhealthy levels this week in communities from Washington state to Washington D.C. Experts say it’s something to get used to it, as a warmer climate stokes bigger and more intense blazes. Growing research points to potential long-term health damage from breathing in microscopic particles of smoke, with millions of people potentially at risk far in areas where huge fires burn.
