At least 35 dead in fires across West
Massive blazes still active in three states
BEAVERCREEK, Ore. — Nearly all the dozens of people reported missing after a devastating blaze in southern Oregon have been accounted for, authorities said over the weekend, as crews continued to battle the massive wildfires that have killed at least 35 from California to Washington state.
The flames up and down the West Coast have destroyed neighborhoods, leaving nothing but charred rubble and burnedout cars, forced tens of thousands to flee and cast a shroud of smoke that has given Seattle, San Francisco and Portland, Ore., some of the worst air quality in the world.
At least 10 people have been killed in the past week throughout Oregon. Officials have said more people are missing from other fires, and the number of fatalities is likely to rise, though they have not said how high the toll could go. Twenty- four people have died in California, and one person has been killed in Washington state.
The smoke filled the air with an acrid metallic smell like pennies and spread to nearby
states. While making it difficult to breathe, it helped firefighters by blocking the sun and turning the weather cooler as they tried to get a handle on the blazes, which were slowing in some places.
Air quality across Oregon was listed as “hazardous” or “very unhealthy” by state environmental officials, and a dense smoke advisory from the National Weather Service remained in effect for much of the state until at least 6 p. m. local time Sunday. Similar warnings were in place in Washington state.
Thomas Keyzers, 36, had hoped that he’d left behind the worst of the smoke when he his wife and their two children, ages 3 and 5, evacuated their home in Happy Valley. But the smoke followed them to Portland, even inside the hotel where they were staying. He and his wife have been coughing constantly. He’s worried about the health of his kids.
“It’s just like a 24- hour campfire,” he said. “You can only take so much of it.”
The Democratic governors of all three states have said the fires are a consequence of climate change, taking aim at President Donald Trump ahead of his visit Monday to California for a fire briefing.
“And it is maddening right now that, when we have this cosmic challenge to our communities, with the entire West Coast of the United States on fire, to have a president to deny that these are not just wildfires, these are climate fires,” Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”
Aside from a Friday night tweet thanking responders for their work, the president has said little publicly about the blazes that have wiped out entire neighborhoods and towns. At a speech in Nevada over the weekend, Mr. Trump blamed the fires on poor forest management and boasted about the United States leaving the international climate agreement.
Firefighter Steve McAdoo found himself running from one blaze to another in Oregon for six days, seeing buildings burn and trees light up like candles.
“We lost track of time because you can’t see the sun and you’ve been up for so many days,” he said. “Forty- eight to 72 hours nonstop, you feel like you’re in a dream.”
As he and his team battled the blazes, he worried about his wife and daughter at home just miles away. They evacuated safely, but at times, he could communicate with them only in oneword text messages: “Busy.”
Mr. McAdoo and other firefighters got their first real break Sunday. And though it’s a faint shadow of its usual self, he can finally see the sun.
“It’s nice today to at least see the dot in the sky,” he said.