Wildfires continue to ravage US West Coast
US officials yesterday warned of potential "mass" fatalities as more than 20,000 firefighters from across the country battled sprawling deadly wildfires up and down the West Coast.
A prediction of cooler weather offered some hope of respite in coming days, but the true scale of the destruction from dozens of massive blazes in California, Oregon and Washington states remained hard to gauge.
There were 16 deaths confirmed this week, with wide stretches of land still cut off by flames. CNN reported death of at least 26 people in the devastating fire season across the West Coast. Dozens more are missing, it added.
"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.
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.
In neighboring Oregon, where one million acres (400,000 hectares) 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 around half a million under evacuation warnings, Brown told a press conference -- clarifying previous higher figures given by state officials.
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