California and US West threatened by wildfires over coming days

Critical fire weather conditions and dry lightning threaten the US West, especially Northern California and the Four Corners region, through Saturday. The National Weather Service warns that abundant lightning on dry fuels could create new, rapidly spreading fires. The largest California blaze, the Lost Fire in Kern County, has burned 4,324 acres and is only 5% contained.

Getting your Trinity Audio //trinityaudio.ai player ready... By Brian K. Sullivan, Bloomberg The fire threat across the US West will rise Friday and remain dangerous through Saturday for many areas, including Northern California, as lightning strikes risk igniting dry vegetation. Critical fire weather conditions and dry lightning will prevail across the western US, with the “Four Corners” region where Utah, New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona come together under the greatest threat, the Storm Prediction Center said. There are red flag fire warnings across Northern California, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Arizona, according to the National Weather Service. “Abundant lightning on dry fuels will likely create new ignitions across the region,” the weather service said in an advisory issued in southern Oregon. “Any fires that develop could spread rapidly. Numerous new fire starts could overwhelm the initial attack.” Wind gusts in the western mountains are forecast to be as strong as 55 miles 89 kilometers per hour. The largest blaze in California is the Lost Fire in Kern County that has burned 4,324 acres and is only 5% contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. It is more or less about halfway between Bakersfield and San Luis Obispo in southern California. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com https://www.bloomberg.com ©2026 Bloomberg L.P.