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More than 100 fires consume thousands of hectares of land on the west coast of the United States. Thousands of houses burned, dozens of people are missing and at least 26 died. But the authorities speak of “massive deaths”.
The fires that ravaged the North American coast of Oste, from California to the state of Washington, on the border with Canada, claimed at least 26 lives. Dozens of people are missing and Oregon officials, who are preparing to evacuate some 500,000 people, fear “mass deaths” as the smoke settles.
About 100 fires occur on the west coast of the United States, including 24 in California, 15 in Washington state, 14 in Oregon, 12 in Idaho and nine in Montana, according to data from the National Fire Center. The flames consumed more than 4.5 million acres of land (approximately 1.8 million hectares) in 12 US states.
A daunting scenario, of dozens of hells, unprecedented in the United States, even in California, annually devastated by flames. In that state known for its sun, beaches and Hollywood movies, firefighters are fighting more than two dozen fires, which have already consumed more than 1.6 million hectares, 26 times more than last year, and destroyed almost 4,000 structures. . .
According to the data published this Saturday, three of the fires that are currently taking place in that state are among the five largest in the history of California. And authorities don’t risk making predictions about when they might be in control.
In the Sierra Nevada, a mountain range that borders the states of California and Nevada, the Berry Crrek fire claimed at least nine lives, including a 16-year-old boy who was found dead in the car with the dog on his lap. More than 10 people are missing, according to the local sheriff’s office.
Driven by high temperatures and high winds and fueled by dry habitat, California fires are raging uncontrollably, without authorities being able to predict when they will be overcome.
In Oregon, they expect winter rains to end fires
In neighboring Oregon state, further north on the west coast, the fires are so intense that authorities do not believe they can control them. “They should burn until the winter rains come,” predicted Doug Grafe, chief of the US State Forest Fire Department.
With six confirmed deaths, Oregon officials admit they expect “massive deaths,” given the number of homes destroyed by the fires, according to Oregon Emergency Director Andrew Phelps.
Dozens of people are missing, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said, emphasizing that she has issued evacuation orders for more than 40,000 people and that about half a million, 10% of the state’s total population, are on alert. or preparedness measures. for evacuation.
The flames destroyed 80% of the buildings in the town.
In Washington state, on the northern tip of the west coast of the United States, a small town was destroyed. About 80% of Malden’s houses were destroyed. The city, with about 200 inhabitants, was left without a post office, fire station, library and town hall.
“These are not just wildfires, they are weather fires, but our state is not going to give in to them,” Washington Gov. Jay Inslee was quoted as saying by CNN.
Federal monitors have warned that smoking affects air quality in the states of California, Oregon, Washington and parts of Idaho. Smoke that leaves people more vulnerable to respiratory diseases, such as COVID-19, which has the most fertile ground of death in the United States, with 192,000 deaths in approximately 6.5 million confirmed positive cases.
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