[D66] [JD: 150] Extreme heat scalds Christmas tree crops in Oregon | reuters

[R.O.]

(Americans are worried about their Christmas trees going up in flames...)

reuters.com
<https://www.reuters.com/world/us/extreme-heat-scalds-christmas-tree-crops-oregon-2021-07-22/>



  Extreme heat scalds Christmas tree crops in Oregon

The Bootleg Fire burns through vegetation near Paisley, Oregon, U.S.,
July 20, 2021. REUTERS/David Ryder

Deborah Bloom
2-3 minutes
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The Bootleg Fire burns through vegetation near Paisley, Oregon, U.S.,
July 20, 2021. REUTERS/David Ryder

OREGON CITY, Ore., July 22 (Reuters) - The destruction wrought by the
extreme heat and wildfires raging across Oregon includes all kinds of
farms - including one that grows trees for the Christmas season.

Jacob Hemphill, owner of Hemphill Tree Farm, estimates that he has lost
over $100,000 worth of Christmas trees as a result of the recent 'heat
dome' event, which saw temperatures of 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46.1 °C)
in some parts of the Portland metro area.

"The second day of the heat, it was 116. I came in the driveway that
night and seen the trees were basically cooking. Burnt down to nothing,"
Hemphill said.

The losses will take a toll on his family this year, he said. But he has
hope things will improve next year.

"I mean, you just kind of got to roll with the punches, and replant next
year... and hopefully make up for the loss that we're gonna have in the
future."

Beyond Christmas trees, Reuters spoke to several farmers across the
Willamette Valley who said the heat wave earlier this year damaged their
crops to unprecedented levels.

The so-called Bootleg fire
<https://www.reuters.com/world/us/lightning-found-have-ignited-oregons-mammoth-bootleg-fire-2021-07-22>
has blackened nearly 400,000 acres (over 160,000 hectares) of desiccated
brush and timber in and around the Fremont-Winema National Forest since
erupting July 6. That makes it close to Oregon's third largest on record
since 1900.

At least 67 homes have been destroyed and another 3,400 were listed as
threatened, with an estimated 2,100 people under orders to evacuate or
be ready to flee at a moment's notice.

Scientists have said the growing frequency and intensity of wildfires
are largely attributable to prolonged drought and increasing bouts of
excessive heat that are symptomatic of climate change.

Reporting by Deborah Bloom; editing by Diane Craft

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
<https://www.thomsonreuters.com/en/about-us/trust-principles.html>

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