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(CNN) – Dozens of wildfires raging communities across the West have killed at least 33 people, and authorities fear dozens more are missing and missing.
Of the people killed since some of the fires broke out in mid-August, 22 have been in California, many of them in recent days. Ten people died in Oregon and one child died in Washington state.
Across the West, 97 major fires burned Saturday, including 12 in Idaho and nine in Montana, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
Smoke from the massive fires is making the air quality unhealthy, federal air quality monitors have warned. That can irritate the lungs and cause inflammation, which can affect the immune system, putting people at a higher risk for lung infections like the coronavirus.
California: Three of the state’s five largest wildfires are burning now
In California, firefighters are fighting more than two dozen major fires across the state, but officials expressed hope that improved weather conditions will boost firefighter efforts to control the flames.
Three of the five largest wildfires in state history are now burning, authorities say.
Little rain, high temperatures, and strong winds helped set the stage for the flames and feed them. And they may take a long time to stop.
The large number of fires is testing the resources used to fight them. Angeles Wildland Fire Chief Robert Garcia told CNN on Saturday that his department is fighting fires with 500 people, when they generally have between 1,000 and 1,500.
“This system is very, very well taxed right now with a number of large fires that are scattered, but particularly in California,” Garcia said, adding that it is common for firefighters to work more than 24 hours in a shift until it arrives. The relay.
More than 16,200 firefighters have been assigned to fight fires across the state, Cal Fire spokesman Steve Kaufmann said during a news conference Saturday night.
Just northeast of Los Angeles, the Bobcat Fire is rampaging through the mountainous Angeles National Forest and contributing to the smoky air in the area.
Fires in the state have burned more than 3.2 million acres so far this year and more than 4,500 structures have been destroyed since Aug. 15, Cal Fire says.
In the Sierra Nevada mountain range north of Sacramento, the North Complex Fire has devastated the community of Berry Creek and the Plumas National Forest since a thunderstorm unleashed it on August 17, consuming more than 258,000 acres.
That fire has killed at least 12 people, the United States Forest Service said in a statement Saturday night. The victims include a 16-year-old boy fleeing the area in his vehicle, Butte County authorities say. More than a dozen were missing, the sheriff’s office said this week.
Berry Creek’s only store, the Village Market, was destroyed in the fire, CNN affiliate KPIX reported Saturday.
“I cried. I cried for a long time,” KPIX quoted owner Mitch Dorghalli as saying. “(It was) the worst day of my life when I heard that news.”
Oregon: state official braces for ‘mass death incident’
At least eight of Oregon’s wildfires are expected to burn “until the winter rains fall,” said State Department of Forestry Fire Chief Doug Grafe.
In Oregon’s Clackamas and Marion counties south of Portland, the smoke was so thick it was difficult to see more than 10 feet ahead on Saturday.
Four of the 10 people who died in the Oregon wildfires died in the Beachie Creek Fire in Marion County.
Two victims identified by the Marion County Medical Examiner’s Office were Wyatt Tofte, 13, and Peggy Mosso, 71, both of Lyons, Oregon, more than 60 miles southeast of Portland.
Wyatt was found in a car with his dog on his lap, while Mosso, his grandmother, was found in another nearby car. Her daughter and Wyatt’s mother Angela tried to save her and she suffered severe burns. Two other victims were located but have not been recovered due to the treacherous conditions.
Four people were killed in the Almeda Drive fire, Jackson County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Mike Moran told CNN.
Dozens of people are missing, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said, mostly in Jackson, Lane and Marion counties in western Oregon. The state is bracing for a “mass death incident” based on the number of structures that have charred, Oregon Director of Emergency Management Andrew Phelps said.
About 500,000 people in the state are under some type of evacuation alert. Royal evacuation orders have been issued for more than 40,000, according to the governor.
Washington: 80% of buildings in the east of the city destroyed
The past five days in Washington have been the second worst fire season in state history, the governor said. As of Saturday, 15 large fires were burning in the state.
In another part of Washington, a 1-year-old boy died and his parents were badly burned while trying to escape the wildfire, authorities said.
The family was visiting their property in a rural area west of Spokane and was evacuated in the middle of the night when the wildfire approached. They abandoned their vehicle and ran into a river to flee the threatening flames, CNN affiliate KCRA reported. The couple was rescued from the river but their son was unable to do so.
Another child died in the Cold Springs fire in Omak, near the Canadian border, according to authorities.
“My heart breaks for the family of the child who died in the Cold Springs fire. I am devastated. The DNR family is devastated. The pain the family is going through is unfathomable,” said the Washington Commissioner of Public Lands, Hilary Franz, in a statement. on social media on Friday.
Earlier this week, Governor Jay Inslee visited Malden, a small town in eastern Washington where 80% of the city’s buildings, including the fire station, post office, city hall, and library, they were completely destroyed.
“It looked like a bomb went off,” city officials said, according to CNN affiliate KIRO.
This story was first published on CNN.com, “Dozens of people remain missing as deadly wildfires burn through western states.”
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