Tanker plane fighting wildfires in Oregon crashes, pilot dead

A tanker plane fighting wildfires in eastern Oregon disappeared Thursday and was found Friday morning with its pilot deceased, according to authorities. The aircraft had been combating the Falls Fire, one of over 110 active fires burning 2,800 square miles across the Western US, driven by extreme heat and dry conditions attributed to climate change.

A Grant County Search and Rescue team located the aircraft and confirmed the death of the pilot, said Lisa Clark, a Bureau of Land Management information officer for the Falls Fire. The plane had been contracted by the US Bureau of Land Management and went missing near Seneca, on the edge of the Malheur National Forest, according to AP report.

The Falls Fire has grown to 219 square miles and is 55% contained, as per the government website InciWeb. The missing aircraft was reported at 6.53 pm (local time) Thursday, according to Thomas Kyle-Milward, spokesperson for Northwest Incident Management Team 8. The pilot was alone on board.

"Climate change is increasing the frequency of lightning strikes as the region endures recording-breaking heat and bone-dry conditions," said Thomas Kyle-Milward.

In California, more than 130 structures have been destroyed by the largest active wildfire in the state, the Park Fire. The blaze began when a man pushed a burning car into a gully in Chico and blended in with others fleeing the scene. Authorities arrested Ronnie Dean Stout, 42, of Chico early Thursday. He is held without bail pending a Monday arraignment.

"The fire quickly began to outpace our resources because of the dry fuels, the hot weather, the low humidities, and the wind," said Butte County Fire Chief Garrett Sjolund.

Elsewhere in California, about 1,000 people were displaced Thursday by the lightning-sparked Gold Complex fires. These fires have burned nearly 5 square miles of brush and timber in the Plumas National Forest near the Nevada line, roughly 50 miles northwest of Reno. Some evacuations were lifted Friday when containment reached 11%.

In inland Southern California, firefighters battled a small fire that erupted Thursday afternoon in the hills above Lake Elsinore in Riverside County. The Macy Fire was 15% contained early Friday, with one unspecified structure destroyed.

Meanwhile, in rural northern San Diego County, the containment of the 3-day-old Grove Fire jumped to 25% following a day of minimal growth.

According to the National Interagency Fire Center, more than 27,000 fires have burned over 5,800 square miles in the US this year. In Canada, more than 3,700 fires have burned over 8,000 square miles so far, the National Wildland Fire Situation Report issued Wednesday stated.