[ad_1]
THOUSANDS OF EVACUATIONS: Large areas that are burning have led to thousands of people having to evacuate. Photo: Noah Berger / AP FR34727
Huge wildfires continue to ravage the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes, while authorities fear more lives will be lost.
Large wildfires have ravaged California in recent weeks. Strong winds have now helped the fires to spread at record speed along the west coast of the United States. Nearly a hundred fires are now raging in the states of California, Oregon, and Washington.
In California, three people were found dead Thursday night after a wildfire in Butte County, Reuters reports, while two people have been confirmed dead from wildfires in Oregon earlier this week.
In Oregon, more than 1,000 homes were destroyed by the fires, which according to the Reuters news agency cover an area twice as large as New York City.
“This could lead to the largest loss of life and property due to wildfires in our state’s history,” Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said at a news conference Wednesday, Reuters wrote.
EVACUATION: Catherine Shields in the process of evacuating the Takoda horse from her property in Silverton, Oregon on Wednesday. Photo: Andrew Selsky / AP
As of Wednesday, five states, with a total of more than 30 million residents, have “red” hazard levels: Washington, Oregon, California, in addition to Nevada and Arizona.
The fires have spread to several Oregon cities, where hundreds of homes have caught fire.
– In the past 24 hours, Oregon has experienced wildfires like we’ve never experienced before, with devastating consequences across the state. Our first priority now is saving lives, Governor Brown wrote on Twitter on Thursday evening Norwegian time.
Oregon Deputy Fire Chief Mariana Ruiz-Temple told local television channel NewsChannel21 that damage in several areas has not been inspected, due to firefighter safety.
-We can’t even get into these areas, he says.
In the city of Malden in Washington state, about 80 percent of buildings and infrastructure have been destroyed by fires, including the fire station, post office, city hall and library.
In just a few days, a larger area in the state has burned than firefighters typically see in an entire year, writes The Guardian.
FOREST FIRE: This is what it looked like Wednesday at Bidwell Bar Bridge in Oroville, Northern California. Photo: Noah Berger / AP FR34727
In California, wildfires are the largest in modern history, writes The New York Times. So far this year, there have been 2,650 more fires than at the same time last year.
64,0000 people have been evacuated from their homes and a total of eleven people have lost their lives in the fires since mid-August.
Read also: Fires burn in California
The Creek Fire, north of Fresno, has destroyed more than 360 homes and buildings, writes Reuters.
– This fire is explosive. Add in the winds, dry seeds and high temperatures and you’ve got the perfect recipe, Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California Fire Department, tells Reuters.
