A wildfire raging through California‘s Eastern Sierra region has scorched 1,000 acres and triggered evacuations across multiple counties.
The Silver Fire, which ignited on Sunday afternoon near Highway 6 and Silver Canyon Road in Inyo County, is currently zero percent contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).
The blaze has prompted mandatory evacuations for several communities, including Laws in Inyo County, Chalfant in Mono County, and the White Mountain Estates neighborhood.
Authorities have also closed a 30-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 6.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or structural damage so far.
What caused the California fires?
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, according to Cal Fire.
More than 200 firefighters were battling the blaze, but gusts reaching 35 miles per hour at Bishop Airport grounded some firefighting aircraft and complicated containment efforts, Cal Fire said in a Facebook update late Sunday.
The National Weather Service has forecasted southwest winds of 25 to 35 mph and gusts up to 65 mph on Monday for the region.
Earlier this year, California’s biggest city Los Angeles suffered the worst fires in its history, killing 29 people and damaging or destroying more than 16,000 structures.
The devastating wildfires were made more likely due to the impact of climate change, researchers said.
The blazes were worsened by dried-out vegetation, low rainfall in the region and the overlap between drought conditions and hurricane-force Santa Ana winds, according to the group World Weather Attribution.
“In 2025, the choices facing world leaders remain the same – to drill and continue to burn oil, gas and coal and experience ever more dangerous weather, or transition to renewable energy for a safer and fairer world,” Dr. Friederike Otto, World Weather Attribution’s co-lead and Senior Lecturer in Climate Science at Imperial College London, said at the time.
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