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- Half a million people have been evacuated from the state of Oregon, local authorities said.
- The reason for the gigantic rescue operation is the unprecedented wildfires on the west coast of the United States.
- In neighboring California, the fire department reports the largest wildfire in recent history in terms of area.
“Approximately 500,000 Oregonians have been evacuated and that number continues to grow,” an official statement said. Firefighters battled Oregon wildfires that spanned 365,000 acres, “a record.”
In the United States, wildfires on the West Coast claimed eight lives, in the states of Oregon, California and Washington. However, some areas are still inaccessible. According to the USA Today newspaper, at least 23 people are said to have died in the fires.
Never before have we seen so much uncontrolled fire in our state.
Burns 3600 square kilometers
In California alone, 14,000 firefighters fought 28 major wildfires, authorities said. The August Complex Fire, a collection of 37 fires, was declared the largest fire in the state’s history. Since it struck the Mendocino Forest on August 17, it has covered more than 190,000 hectares of land.
Oregon Governor Kate Brown described the fires in her state as “unprecedented.” An area of around 3,600 square kilometers would be on fire. According to media reports, thousands of firefighters are fighting more than 40 fires here.
At least five cities are “significantly destroyed”. In just three days, the flames would have consumed twice the vegetation that burns on average in a year, Brown said.
