Winds are a concern as the death toll reaches 33 from fires on the west coast

Shayanne Summers holds her dog Toph while he is wrapped in a blanket after spending several days in a tent at an evacuation center at the Milwaukie-Portland Elks Lodge, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020, in Oak Grove, Oregon. . “It’s pretty nice here you can almost think of this as camping and forgetting everything else, almost,” Summers said of staying downtown after evacuating near Molalla, Oregon, which was threatened by the Riverside fire. (AP Photo / John Locher)

BEAVERCREEK, Pray. Nearly all of the dozens of people reported missing after a devastating fire in southern Oregon have been tallied, authorities said over the weekend as crews battled wildfires that have killed at least 33 from California to California. Washington state.

Flames across the West Coast have destroyed neighborhoods, leaving nothing but charred debris and burned cars, forcing tens of thousands to flee, and blowing up a blanket of smoke that has hit Seattle, San Francisco and Portland, Oregon. , some of the worst air quality in the world.

Smoke filled the air with a pungent metallic smell like pennies and spread to nearby states. While it made breathing difficult, it helped firefighters by blocking out the sun and cooling the weather as they tried to control the flames, which were dwindling in places.

But warnings of low humidity and high winds that could fan the flames added urgency to the battle. The so-called red flag warnings extended from southern Oregon to northern California and lasted through Monday night.

Lexi Soulios, her husband, and their son feared having to evacuate a second time due to the weather. They left their small town of Talent, in southern Oregon, last week when they saw a “large stream of dark smoke rising,” then passed road blocks Friday to search the charred ruins of their home.

As they linger further south in Ashland, known for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, she said via text message that the forecast could mean they could be on the move again.

“So this is not over yet, but we just checked the car so we feel ready,” wrote Lexi Soulios.

Authorities reported last week that up to 50 people may be missing after a wildfire in the Ashland area. But the Jackson County sheriff’s office said Saturday night that four people died in the fire and the number of missing was reduced to one.

At least 10 people died last week across Oregon. Authorities have said more people are missing from other fires and the death toll is likely to rise, though they have not said how high the death toll could rise as they search. In California, 22 people have died and one in Washington state. Thousands of houses and other buildings have been burned.

Barbara Rose Bettison, 25, left her farm among the trees and fields of Eagle Creek, outside Portland, when a sheriff’s deputy knocked on her door Tuesday. They drove away along a road that became an ominous dividing line, with blue skies on one side and black and brown smoke on the other.

He took refuge in an Elks Lodge near Portland, where evacuees wrapped themselves in blankets and set up tents in the back.

“It’s frightening. We have never had any kind of natural disaster, ”he said.

Bettison, a driver for UPS, was able to go out with her chickens, rabbits and cats. She has not returned, but the neighbors said there is so much smoke that they cannot see her hands in front of their faces.

“I hope there wasn’t too much damage because it would break my heart,” he said.

Further south, in the town of Talent, Dave Monroe came to his burned house, hoping to find his three cats.

“We thought we would get out of this summer without fires,” he said. “Something’s going on, that’s for sure, man. Every summer we burn. “
Numerous studies in recent years have linked the largest wildfires in the US to global warming due to the burning of coal, oil, and gas.

Democratic governors of all three states say the fires are a consequence of climate change and are targeting President Donald Trump ahead of his visit to California on Monday for a fire briefing.

“It is maddening right now that when we have this cosmic challenge to our communities, with the entire West Coast of the United States on fire, to have a president who denies that these are not just wildfires, these are weather fires,” said the governor. from Washington. . Jay Inslee said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”

At a rally in Nevada, Trump blamed inadequate forest management, which White House adviser Peter Navarro echoed on CNN’s “State of the Union,” saying for many years in California, “particularly due to to budget cuts, there was no inclination to manage our forests. “

Firefighter Steve McAdoo has been running from one fire to another in Oregon for six days, watching buildings burn and trees lit up like candles.

“We lost track of time because you can’t see the sun and you’ve been awake for so many days,” he said. “Forty-eight to 72 hours without stopping, you feel like in a dream.”

As he and his team battled the flames, McAdoo worried about his wife and daughter at their home, a few miles away. They were safely evacuated, but sometimes he could only communicate with them in one-word text messages: “busy.”

McAdoo and other firefighters had their first real break Sunday to shower, shave and check their gear. And although he is a faint shadow of his usual self, he can finally see the sun.

“Today it’s nice to see at least the point in the sky,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Oregon fire marshal, who resigned after being put on leave amid a personal investigation, says he was trying to help a colleague and “did nothing wrong.”

Jim Walker told KOIN television news station in Portland that state police leaders took him off leave after he tried to help a co-worker whose family was missing in a fire zone, saying his superiors decided that he had exceeded his authority.

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