Sixteen dead in US wildfires as cool weather brings hope

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FRESNO, United States, Sept 12, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – More than 20,000
firefighters from across the United States on Friday battled sprawling deadly
wildfires up and down the West Coast as the arrival of cooler weather offered
hope of a respite.

The true scale of the destruction from dozens of massive blazes in
California, Oregon and Washington states remained hard to gauge, with 16
deaths confirmed so far this week, but wide stretches still cut off by
flames.

“We anticipate that number (of deaths) may potentially go up as we get
back into areas that have been ravaged by flame and obviously, smoke begins
to clear,” warned California governor Gavin Newsom, as he visited a scorched
forest near the raging North Complex Fire.

Ten people have been confirmed dead from that blaze in Butte County, which
was driven at unprecedented pace toward the city of Oroville earlier in the
week by strong, dry winds and soaring temperatures.

But Newsom said the weather “is beginning to cooperate,” with winds
settling down and some rain forecast in the coming days.

In neighboring Oregon, where one million acres have burned and three
people are reported dead with dozens still unaccounted for, governor Kate
Brown also expressed hope a corner had been turned.

More than 40,000 Oregonians have fled their homes so far, with some
500,000 under evacuation warnings, Brown told a press conference —
clarifying previous higher figures given by state officials.

“The weather system fueling these fires over the past few days has finally
broken down,” she said.

“We anticipate cooler air and moisture coming in the next few days, which
is really good news.”

Dozens of people remained missing in connection with the fires,
specifically in Jackson, Lane and Marion counties, Brown said.

Earlier in the week, Brown warned that Oregon could expect to see a “great
deal of loss, both in structures and in human lives.”

– ‘Complete loss’ –

The August Complex Fire this week became by far the biggest recorded blaze
in Californian history, ripping through 746,000 acres (300,000 hectares) of
dry vegetation in the state’s north, as multiple fires combined.

But it is just one of around 100 large fires on the US West Coast, and
other rapidly growing blazes closer to populated areas have proven deadlier.

“We are at a complete loss for words right now,” Bobbie Zedaker told the
San Francisco Chronicle, after DNA tests proved her missing 16-year-old
nephew was among those killed by the North Complex Fire.

Two more people were killed near the rural community of Happy Camp, a Cal
Fire spokeswoman told AFP Friday. But in a mountainous region of central
California, close to where the Creek Fire is burning, some members of an
indigenous community refused to leave their homes despite evacuation orders.

“I don’t feel it’s going to come this way,” said James Hancock, 52, whose
home on the Cold Springs Rancheria Indian Reservation currently has no light,
electricity or water.

“The ancestors didn’t have any of that and they were fine,” he told AFP.

– ‘Climate damn emergency’ –

Huge wildfires are becoming more common, with the World Meteorological
Organization saying the five years to 2019 was unprecedented for fires,
especially in Europe and North America.

Climate change amplifies droughts which dry out regions, creating ideal
conditions for wildfires to spread out of control and inflict unprecedented
material and environmental damage.

“I’m a little bit exhausted that we have to continue to debate this
issue,” said Newsom on Friday. “This is a climate damn emergency. This is
real, and it’s happening.

“This is the perfect storm.”

California has already seen more than 3.1 million acres burn this year —
an annual record, approximately the size of Connecticut — with nearly four
months of fire season still to come.

The state’s 12 wildfire deaths this week follow eight more last month.

Oregon officials have confirmed two deaths in the Santiam Canyon region
south of Portland, and a third near the California border.

In Washington state, a one-year-old boy perished while his parents
suffered severe burns as they attempted to flee an inferno 130 miles (210
kilometers) east of Seattle.