Good morning and welcome to Kid News. I'm Kim. Today is Friday, August 22nd, 2025. We begin with a

mysterious fire threatening the height ranking of one of the largest trees in the world. The Durner

fir, an exceptional historic Douglas fir tree that's 325 feet tall and around 450 years old,

has been burning since Saturday in Coos County near

Oregon's southern coast. According to the Bureau of Land Management, the tree has already lost

50 feet off the top, but is not at risk of burning down completely. Helicopter bucket drops

have snuffed out visible flames, but infrared photography has detected heat still coming from

a cavity inside the trunk 280 feet up. They've put sprinklers at the base to prevent further

fires and are monitoring the hotspot. Lightning's been ruled out, but at this point, the cause of the

fire remains unknown.

It's a sweaty mess in the U.S. West.

More than 80 million people from Southern California to Oregon are experiencing scorching temperatures,

ranging anywhere from 100 to 112 degrees today.

Many cities, including Los Angeles and Portland, could shatter all-time highs.

An unusually strong high-pressure ridge centered over the four corners, the southwestern corner of Colorado, the southeastern corner of Utah,

northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico is the cause.

There's no general agreement on how long the heat will last,

with some forecasters saying it will die down over the weekend, and others seeing no immediate end in sight. To the other side of the country, where errands barely in the rearview mirror,

and forecasters are already side-eyeing another Atlantic storm.

If it strengthens, as expected, it'll be named Fairnon.

Hurricane Aaron meantime is now spinning away from the U.S., but after pummeling the outer

banks with wind and high surf, continues to whip up waves at beaches in New England.

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