It took only a week for the Park fire north of Sacramento to grow into the fifth-largest in California history, signaling the potential for a destructive wildfire season across much of the Western United States. Almost 50 other large or notable fires were burning throughout the region on Wednesday, according to a New York Times tracker. Although this year doesn’t yet compare to 2020, the most destructive wildfire season of the last two decades, the sheer number of fires currently burning in Western states — both big and small — has threatened to overwhelm firefighting resources at a rate that worries experts so early in the season. “Normally we’re ramping up in July to get to that peak in August, early September,” said Alex Robertson, director of fire and aviation management for the U.S. Forest Service. But this year, he said, “we’re going into August already at our full tilt.”At least one person was killed this week by a wildfire burning near Denver, and a historic mining town was leveled near Bakersfield, Calif. More than half a million acres of the Western United States have burned in the past week, according to the Times wildfire tracker.

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Persons: —, ”, Alex Robertson, “ we’re Organizations: Western, New York Times, U.S . Forest Service Locations: Sacramento, California, Western United States, Denver, Bakersfield , Calif