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Unprecedented wildfires in Oregon have devastated five small towns and many fear the dead, Gov. Kate Brown said yesterday, as families began reporting the loss of family members.
Winds and heat
Strong winds and heat waves are fueling nearly 100 wildfires in the western United States. Oregon is the worst hit state, as New York City, twice the size of New York City, is engulfed in flames.
Reuters photos
The Detroit community in central Oregon in Saddam Valley, Blue River and Vida in Lane, Phoenix and Talent in southern Oregon were all but devastated, Brown said at a news conference.
A 12-year-old boy and his grandmother were killed in a violent fire near the Lyon community of Saddam Valley, about 50 miles south of Portland, KOIN6 reported, citing the family, who said the boy’s mother was in serious condition. critical. 
“This could be the largest loss of human life and property due to fires in the history of our state,” he said.
How many may have died …
He gave no indication of how many people may have died, but one of Oregon’s deadliest wildfires in 1936, which destroyed Brandon City, left 13 dead.
Brown asked the state to declare a federal state of emergency.
“The winds continue to fuel these fires and carry them into our cities,” he said, adding that thousands of Oregonians would be forced to flee their homes in the next few hours.
Firefighters were forced to retreat from the uncontrollable flames that forced tens of thousands to evacuate their homes, some notified just half an hour before, and hundreds of thousands without power. 
“It was like driving through hell,” Jodi Evans told local news station NewsChannel21 after the evacuation from Detroit, about 50 miles (80 km) west of Salem.
Damage to small towns
Evans escaped the largest fire in Oregon, called the Beachie Fire, which threatened to join another wildfire in the west known as the Lionshead.
Mill City, an Oregon city of about 1,900 people 24 miles west of Detroit, suffered severe damage and homes destroyed along the Saddam River, the mayor reported, NewsChannel21 reported.
In southern Oregon, parts of Medford, a popular retreat site with more than 80,000 residents in the scenic Rog Valley, evacuation orders or warnings were issued when a fire caused the closure of section 5 of the interstate, which connects the main highway. South, in the Western States. 
As the fire moved north from Medford, it damaged the small towns of Talent, with about 6,000 residents, and Phoenix, with about 5,000, according to local police.
Source: ΑΠΕ
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