The path of devastation spans thousands of miles where flames have consumed people, homes and cars while leaving a barren, gray landscape.
But the massive wildfires aren't done chewing through the West, shrouding the skies with choking smoke or driving residents from their homes.
It’s an ominous harbinger of fall for the region that was the first to be hit hard by the coronavirus and where the cries for social justice have rung especially loud this summer with protests in Portland for more than 100 days.
“What’s next?” asked Danielle Oliver, who had to flee her home southeast of Portland ahead of the deadly flames. “You have the protests, coronavirus pandemic, now the wildfires. What else can go wrong?”
She’s one of tens of thousands of people displaced by wildfires in Oregon, California and Washington state. Many more are living with air contamination levels at historic highs. The region’s death toll has topped 30 and could increase sharply, with Oregon officials saying they are preparing for a possible “mass casualty event" if more bodies are found in the ash.
Among the people killed was Millicent Catarancuic, who was found near her car on her 5-acre home in Berry Creek, California. At one point she was ready to evacuate with her dogs and cats in the car. But she later changed her mind as the winds seemed to calm and the flames stayed away.
Then the fire changed direction, rushing onto the property too quickly for her to leave. She died, along with her animals.
“I feel like, maybe when they passed, they had an army of cats and dogs with her to help her through it,” said her daughter, Holly Catarancuic.
George Coble lost everything just outside Mill City, Oregon — his fence-building business, five houses where his family lived and a collection of vintage cars, including a 1967 Mustang.
“We’ll just keep working and keep your head up and thank God everybody got out,” Coble said.
In a town nearby, Erik Tucker spent the day coated in ash and smudged with charcoal, hauling buckets of water through what remained of his neighborhood to douse hot spots.
“No power, debris everywhere, smoke, can’t breathe,” he said, his words sparce in the air thick with ash.
Fire-charred landscapes looked like bombed-out cities in Europe after World War II, with buildings reduced to charred rubble piled atop blackened earth. People caught in the wildfires died in an instant, overcome by flames or smoke as they desperately tried to escape.
California has borne the brunt of the death toll so far, as more than two dozen active major fires have burned thousands of square miles. President Donald Trump plans to visit Monday for a briefing.
Some of the worst blazes were still burning in northeastern Washington and Oregon. The Democratic governors of all three states have said the fires are a consequence of global warming.
“We absolutely must act now to avoid a future defined by an unending barrage of tragedies like the one American families are enduring across the West today,” said Joe Biden, the party’s presidential nominee.
The dry, windy conditions that fed the flames were likely a once-in-a-generation event, said Greg Jones, a professor and research climatologist at Linfield University in McMinnville, Oregon. The warmer world can increase the likelihood of extreme events and contribute to their severity, he said.
There was some good news Saturday: The same smoke that painted California skies orange also helped crews corral the state’s deadliest blaze this year by blocking the sun, reducing temperatures and raising humidity.
Smoke created cooler conditions in Oregon as well. But it was also blamed for creating the dirtiest air in at least 35 years in some places, “literally off the charts,” the state’s environmental quality spokesperson, Laura Gleim, said.
In Portland, smoke filled the air with an acrid metallic scent like dull pennies. It was so thick that Ashley Kreitzer could not see the road when she headed to work as a driver for a ride-hailing service.
“I couldn’t even see five feet ahead of me,” she said. “I was panicking, I didn’t even know if I wanted to go out.”
People stuffed towels under door jambs to keep smoke out or wore N95 masks in their own homes.
Meanwhile, there was political turmoil as Oregon's fire marshal was forced out while a half-million state residents were under evacuation warnings or orders to leave. Details were scarce on why he was put on leave then resigned amid a nearly unprecedented disaster.
Oliver, 40, who fled her Portland-area home, has an autoimmune disorder. She was nervous about going to a shelter because of the coronavirus, but her other option was sleeping in a car with her husband, 15-year-daughter, two dogs and a cat.
The temperature checks and social distancing at the American Red Cross shelter helped put her mind at ease. Oliver has lived through homelessness before and now can only hope the family's house survives.
“I’m tired. I’m tired of starting all over,” she said. “Getting everything, working for everything, then losing everything.”
AP Newsroom
Sun Sep 13 2020
![What's next? Devastating fires are latest challenge in West What's next? Devastating fires are latest challenge in West](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/http://img.astroawani.com/2020-09/51599992667_Firekid.jpg)
Ellie Owens, 8, from Grants Pass, Oregon, looks at fire damage Friday, Sept. 11, 2020, as destructive wildfires devastate the region in Talent, Oregon - AP Photo/Paula Bronstein
![Kerajaan Persekutuan, negeri perlu tingkat kepantasan beri kelulusan untuk tarik pelabur - PM Anwar Kerajaan Persekutuan, negeri perlu tingkat kepantasan beri kelulusan untuk tarik pelabur - PM Anwar](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-08/41723712785_AnwarIbrahim.jpg)
Kerajaan Persekutuan, negeri perlu tingkat kepantasan beri kelulusan untuk tarik pelabur - PM Anwar
Kerajaan Persekutuan, negeri perlu meningkatkan kepantasan dalam memberi kelulusanbagi menjadikan Malaysia tumpuan pelabur.
![Pemandu maut lori terbalik, kesesakan 2 jam di Lebuhraya PLUS Ipoh-Kuala Kangsar Pemandu maut lori terbalik, kesesakan 2 jam di Lebuhraya PLUS Ipoh-Kuala Kangsar](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-08/71723712690_kemalangantrelerP.jpg)
Pemandu maut lori terbalik, kesesakan 2 jam di Lebuhraya PLUS Ipoh-Kuala Kangsar
Seorang pemandu lori maut manakala kelindan cedera selepas kenderaan yang mereka naiki terbabas lalu terbalik di Kilometer 257 Lebuhraya PLUS arah utara, dekat sini, petang ini.
RADIO 360: Integrasi teknologi kumpul maklumat pendengar, data lebih komprehensif
RADIO 360 Malaysia merentasi 11 stesen radio Astro yang boleh diakses di aplikasi SYOK termasuk Era, Sinar, Gegar, Hitz, Mix, My dan Raaga.
![Tindakan Faisal Halim undang rasa sebak penyokong bola sepak Tindakan Faisal Halim undang rasa sebak penyokong bola sepak](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-08/71723706908_TBFaisalHalim.jpg)
Tindakan Faisal Halim undang rasa sebak penyokong bola sepak
Tindakan bintang Selangor FC, Faisal Halim yang bertemu pemain Sabah FC ketika perlawanan Liga Super minggu ke-9 mengundang rasa sebak.
![KPDN fokus pengantarabangsaan produk tempatan ke empat negara - Armizan KPDN fokus pengantarabangsaan produk tempatan ke empat negara - Armizan](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-08/61723712231_LotusKPDNKBBM.jpg)
KPDN fokus pengantarabangsaan produk tempatan ke empat negara - Armizan
KPDN menyasarkan penembusan produk buatan Malaysia di pasaran antarabangsa dengan kerjasama beberapa rangkaian pasar raya besar luar negara.
Ekonomi Gig: Persediaan awal belia ke arah pekerjaan stabil
Menurut Pensyarah, Asia Pacific University (Apu), Dr Nor Azrul Mohd Zin, platform ini memberi peluang kepada belia untuk menimba ilmu, mempelajari pelbagai kemahiran dan memperoleh pendapatan sementara menunggu peluang pekerjaan yang lebih stabil.
URA: Akta Pembangunan Semula Bandar ganggu hak pemilik rumah - Pakar
Kerajaan tidak sewajarnya meneruskan penggubalan Akta Pembangunan Semula (Urban Development Act, URA) yang menghilangkan hak pemilik rumah.
Kolaborasi MAPIM, ZUS mahu wujudkan jenama susah senang Malaysia
Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif (CEO) MAPIM Malaysia, Ahmad Sani Abdul Alim Araby berkata kolaborasi MAPIM dan ZUS Coffee merupakan kolaborasi yang unik antara syarikat kopi buatan Malaysia itu untuk menjadi jenama susah senang Malaysia.
Selain daripada memberi tumpuan kepada Gaza, perbincangan MAPIM dan ZUS juga melihat kepada peluang memberi perkhidmatan dan manfaat dalam negara seperti mangsa banjir, asnaf dan mereka yang memerlukan bantuan.
#AWANInews
Selain daripada memberi tumpuan kepada Gaza, perbincangan MAPIM dan ZUS juga melihat kepada peluang memberi perkhidmatan dan manfaat dalam negara seperti mangsa banjir, asnaf dan mereka yang memerlukan bantuan.
#AWANInews
[TERKINI] Pemain bola sepak bawa kerambit suspek kes baling bom petrol
Polis sahkan pemain bola sepak amatur yang ditahan kerana membawa disyaki kerambit merupakan suspek kes membaling bom petrol di sebuah pusat hiburan di ibu kota, pada Mei lalu.
Hanya 16,000 daripada 300,000 pekebun memohon setakat ini
Hanya 16,000 daripada 300,000 pekebun kecil memohon bantuan Budi Agri-Komoditi setakat ini, yang membolehkan mereka menerima insentif bulanan sebanyak RM200.
Menteri Perladangan Dan Komoditi, Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani berkata, antara masalah yang dikenal pasti adalah pekebun kecil tidak mendapat maklumat berhubung bantuan itu, tidak tahu cara mendaftar, atau tiada kemudahan seperti capaian internet dan komputer.
Menteri Perladangan Dan Komoditi, Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani berkata, antara masalah yang dikenal pasti adalah pekebun kecil tidak mendapat maklumat berhubung bantuan itu, tidak tahu cara mendaftar, atau tiada kemudahan seperti capaian internet dan komputer.