IGNITED STATES

Death toll set to climb as wildfires destroy whole towns in America’s west

LOS ANGELES: Hundreds of homes, including entire communities, have been destroyed by wildfires in the western United States as officials warned of potential mass deaths under apocalyptic orange skies.

As California scrambled to contain rapidly spreading wildfires, at least five towns were “substantially destroyed” in neighbouring Oregon as widespread evacuations took place across the northwestern state, governor Kate Brown said.

“I want to be upfront in saying that we expect to see a great deal of loss, both in structures and in human lives,” she told a press conference.

“This could be the greatest loss of human lives and property due to wildfire in our state’s history.”

Along with California to the south and the state of Washington to the north, Oregon has been desperately trying to contain rapidly spreading wildfires since the weekend due to an unprecedented heatwave followed by intense, dry winds.

Two deaths were confirmed in the Santiam Canyon region about 100km south of Portland.

“They are not going to be the only folks we find deceased up there,” Marion County sheriff Joe Kast said.

Officials said more deaths would likely be reported in coming days.

“We can’t even get into some of these areas,” deputy chief fire marshal Mariana Ruiz-Temple said.

In California, where at least eight deaths have already been reported, people in the San Francisco Bay Area woke to a deep orange sky caused by wildfire smoke that at times blocked out the sun entirely.

Photos of the eerie scene, particularly of a San Francisco skyline fit for a dystopian science fiction film, spread quickly on social media. Cars crossing the famous Golden Gate Bridge were forced to switch their lights on throughout the day.

About 200km to the north, the Bear Fire exploded at an unprecedented speed overnight, combining with older blazes to scorch more than 250,000 acres and threaten the city of Oroville.

Evacuation warnings were expanded to parts of the town of Paradise, site of California’s deadliest modern fire which killed 86 people less than two years ago.

The nearby August Complex Fire also spread rapidly to become the state’s second-largest blaze in its history, at 420,000 acres.

At the Creek Fire in central California, exhausted firefighters raced between blazes as thick columns of smoke rose up from the Sierra forest – now closed, along with all 18 of the state’s national forests.

In one home near Shaver Lake, only the scorched remains of a washing machine, outdoor dining table and chairs were left standing beside the ash-coated chassis of a truck

Tens of thousands of people have been forced to evacuate their homes.

In Washington, where the town of Malden was decimated, governor Jay Inslee described the wildfires as “unprecedented and heartbreaking”.