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Dozens of people are missing in Oregon as wildfires continue to rage across the western United States, State Governor Kate Brown said.
Tens of thousands of people in Oregon alone have been displaced by deadly hells.
Wildfires have killed at least four in Oregon and 11 elsewhere. One hundred fires, fueled by hot, dry winds, are currently scorching 12 states.
Federal emergency aid was approved for Oregon to help fight the fires.
“Many Oregonians are suffering right now, whether they are displaced or concerned for their families and communities as they watch our beautiful state burn,” Governor Brown told reporters Friday.
“So far, there are early reports from our state police that there are dozens of people missing related to the fires specifically in Jackson, Lane and Marion counties.”
He did not offer further details on the missing persons.
The governor also clarified that fewer than 100,000 Oregonians had been told to leave their homes.
State officials said a day earlier that half a million people were under evacuation orders.
But Ms Brown said on Friday that the higher figure included those who stayed home but had been advised to be ready to evacuate.
Ms. Brown also implored residents who have evacuated to stay out of the fire zones despite rumors of burglaries and damage.
“I know that the looting rumors are extremely alarming and that it is disturbing not knowing if your house is still standing.
“Let me assure you that we have the Oregon National Guard and the Oregon State Police monitoring the situation and preventing looting.”
He added that the people who tried to return home were putting their own lives, as well as those of firefighters and first responders, at risk.
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The governor noted that federal aid has been approved, which will help provide additional support in fighting fires and caring for the displaced.
Oregon Department of Forestry Fire Protection Chief Doug Grafe said Friday that firefighters are still fighting 16 major fires, but cooling temperatures and additional humidity in the air are helping efforts.
Along with Oregon, California and Washington state are the worst affected states.
Entire villages in this region have been destroyed and about 4.5 million acres burned, an area slightly smaller than Wales, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
At least one fire in Oregon is being treated as a suspected arson.
While natural factors such as strong winds have helped these massive fires spread, the underlying warming of the climate due to human activities is making these conflagrations larger and more explosive.
Nine of the world’s 10 warmest years on record have occurred since 2005, and the UN warned this week that the five years from 2016 to this year will most likely be the hottest period on record so far. Both Oregon and California have warmed more than 1 ° C since 1900.
The sustained heat has caused six of the 20 largest fires on record in California to occur this year. In Oregon, the avalanche of wildfires has burned nearly twice the average annual losses in the last week.
In California, a prolonged drought over the past decade has killed millions of trees, turning them into powerful fuel for fires. Mountainous regions that are typically colder and wetter have dried up more quickly in the summer, increasing the potential fuel load.
Climate scientists had predicted that western wildfires would grow in size, scale and impact, but their predictions are coming true faster than expected.
- A really simple guide to climate change
Among the victims in Oregon are a boy and his grandmother. The couple died in a wildfire near Lyons, 110 kilometers (70 miles) south of Portland.
Twelve-year-old Wyatt Tofte, his dog, and his grandmother Peggy Mosso died in the family car trying to escape the fire. His mother was found severely burned.
Lonnie Bertalotto, Mosso’s son and Wyatt’s uncle, confirmed the deaths in a Facebook post. “Take nothing for granted in life and make the best of each day,” he wrote.
Bertalotto told the Oregonian newspaper exactly what happened is unclear, but the family believes that Wyatt tried to get his grandmother out of the car, but she had a broken knee and was unable to move.
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Reuters
An infrared image shows destroyed homes in Phoenix, Oregon – burned vegetation and properties appear gray, surviving vegetation is red
The Almeda fire has been one of the most destructive in the state. Beginning near the California border, the fire has been linked to at least two deaths and devastated hundreds of homes in the cities of Phoenix and Talent.
Officials treat him as a suspect.
A spokesman for the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s office told Reuters news agency that all fires are being investigated for the possibility of arson.
In Portland, Oregon’s largest city, invasive fires have prompted massive evacuations in the suburbs.
What is the situation in other places?
In neighboring Washington, the state’s largest wildfire in Okanogan County caused the death of a one-year-old boy as his family tried to escape the fire. His parents remain in critical condition.
Most of the houses in the town of Malden, in the eastern part of the state, have also been destroyed.
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In California, the death toll continues to rise. Authorities in Butte County, north of the capital Sacramento, said 10 bodies have been found in the past two days. A 16-year-old boy is among those killed in the fire.
Another 16 people are still missing.
The North Complex Fire, which has been burning since Aug. 18, is among the deadliest in history, reports the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The nation’s most populous state has seen at least 20 fire deaths since Aug. 15, when the first series of fires began, according to Cal Fire, the agency that handles wildfires.
More than 3 million acres have burned in the past month, the most in a single year according to the Los Angeles Times.
Tens of thousands of people were under evacuation orders in the Golden State as 14,800 firefighters continue to fight 28 major fires.
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