An entire town in southwestern Louisiana is under mandatory evacuation orders because of a wildfire that state officials say is the largest they have ever seen.
Usually during this time of year, the Deep South state is addressing threats of imminent hurricanes, tropical storms and flooding. But this summer Louisiana has been plagued by record-breaking heat and extreme drought, which have made the wildfire risk unusually high. This month alone, there have been 441 wildfires in the state.
Louisiana's largest blaze, the Tiger Island Fire in Beauregard Parish, has already burned an estimated 23 square miles — accounting for more acres of burned land than the state usually has in an entire year.
The fire forced the 1,200 residents of Merryville, a rural town just east of the Texas border, to evacuate Thursday night.
