Wildfires are raging across the entire West Coast of the US stretching from Washington State to Southern California.
At least eight people in Oregon, California and Washington are dead as a result of the devastating wildfires that have been ravaging the United States’ West Coast.
Oregon Governor, Kate Brown, said the destruction and death toll are expected to get worse.
According to the Oregon Office of Emergency Management, there are 37 active fires, with more than 672,000 acres burned in the state as of early Thursday morning. The Oregon wildfires have charred nearly 500 square miles since Monday.
“Over the last 24 hours, Oregon has experienced unprecedented fires, with devastating consequences across the state,” Brown said in a statement Thursday. “Our number-one priority right now is saving lives. This could be the greatest loss of human lives and property due to wildfires in our state’s history.”
California’s Bear Fire has destroyed structures in Oroville, California, and evacuation warnings have been put in place for Paradise, California, which burned in 2018’s Camp Fire. Communities near Medford, Oregon, have burned down.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of homes and other buildings are believed to have been damaged or destroyed by the blaze northeast of San Francisco, fire officials said at an evening news conference.
In Washington, more acres burned in a single day than firefighters usually see all year. Fires also forced people to flee homes in Oregon and Idaho. A blast of polar airhelped slow wildfires in Colorado and Montana.
Multiple deaths have been reported, thousands of people have been evacuated, homes and structures have been destroyed and thousands of acres have been scorched.
Mass evacuations have been ordered across California and southwestern Oregon.
