wildfires

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Grim Arrival in Ore.: First Mobile Morgue

There have been 8 deaths in the state; 22 are confirmed missing

(Newser) - State Police have opened Oregon's first-ever mobile morgue with dozens of deaths expected in raging wildfires that have already burned some 900,000 acres. The official death count was reduced from 10 to eight after two sets of remains in Jackson County were determined to be animals. But 22...

Smoke From West Coast Fires Reaches DC, New York

And it has reportedly also reached Midwest, Canada, Europe

(Newser) - From Washington state to Washington, DC—the National Weather Service said Monday that smoke from the wildfires on the west coast of the US could be seen across the country at the National Mall. The NWS says the smoke caught a jet stream, moving at an altitude as high as...

Homeowner Finds Barn Gone, Animals Still Alive

Monday's windy forecast brings no relief out West in wildfire fight

(Newser) - A story out of rural Oregon provides a glimpse at the scope of the wildfire fight: NBC News reports that Upper McKenzie fire chief Rainbow Plews and several members of her volunteer crew lost their homes as they battled a blaze about 20 miles away. “I threw up. I...

Fire Marshal Quits as Wildfires Devastate Oregon
Fire Marshal
Quits Amid
Horrific
Spate of
Wildfires
the rundown
Sep 13, 2020 2:30 PM CDT

Fire Marshal Quits Amid Horrific Spate of Wildfires

Meanwhile, tragedy strikes a family and their dog

(Newser) - Oregon's fire marshal has stepped down as a deadly rash of wildfires ravage his state, the Oregonian reports. Details remain foggy, but an insider suggests Fire Marshal Jim Walker wasn't up to the job. He allegedly handed over daily management of the crisis to his chief deputy, Mariana...

Facebook to Pull Posts Blaming Fires on Antifa

Sheriff's deputy who spread false information is put on leave

(Newser) - Facebook is heeding the pleas of law enforcement and taking down posts that falsely say antifa started the wildfires now raging in the West. One sheriff's department in Oregon said its staff and 911 dispatchers have been swamped with requests for information after a rumor circulated that it had...

'Mass Fatality Event' Looms in One State

But changing weather might help firefighters in Oregon and California

(Newser) - Diminishing winds and rising humidity helped firefighters battling deadly blazes in Oregon and California, but with dozens of people still missing, authorities in both states feared that the receding flames could reveal many more dead across the blackened landscape, the AP reports. Oregon's emergency management director said officials were...

Deadliest US Blaze of 2020: 'No Fighting This Fire'

At least 9 are dead as area burned in California surpasses size of Connecticut

(Newser) - Berry Creek, Calif., has been largely destroyed in what has become the deadliest fire of 2020, a year that has already shattered California records for the most area burned—more land than the state of Connecticut—and recorded the largest fire of all time in the state. Five of the...

Trump's Silence on Wildfires Draws Media Scrutiny

Pence expresses concern, but president hasn't mentioned deaths or destruction

(Newser) - Huge wildfires have combined and are closing in on towns and suburbs, rapidly deepening the crisis on the West Coast. "We are preparing for a mass fatality incident based on what we know and the numbers of structures that have been lost," Oregon's emergency management director said...

Portland Has World's Worst Air Quality

Fires push city to No. 1, with Seattle and San Francisco right behind

(Newser) - The wildfires burning in Oregon and Washington have made the air quality in Portland not just bad but dangerous. In the past day, IQAir.com has moved the Oregon city to the top of its list, meaning it has the worst air quality of any major city in the world—...

10% of Oregon's Population Has Evacuated

That's more than half a million people

(Newser) - As Oregon continues to burn , more than 10% of the population—over half a million people—has been forced to evacuate. Wildfires have burned more than 1,400 square miles in the state of 4.2 million this week, the AP reports. The rest of the US Pacific Coast is...

Surreal Fire Images, Dangerous Air
Surreal Fire Images,
Dangerous Air
Sep 10, 2020 1:39 PM CDT

Surreal Fire Images, Dangerous Air

Images from the wildfires in the West

(Newser) - Just how bad are the wildfires in the West? The Los Angeles Times reports that roughly half of all Californians are exposed to air that exceeds safety thresholds for tiny particles known as PM2.5. That equates to about 20 million people. "Rarely have so many Californians breathed such...

1-Year-Old Dies After Wildfire Traps Family

They tried to flee fast-moving Washington blaze

(Newser) - A 1-year-old boy in Washington state has become the youngest victim of the devastating wildfires burning in the Pacific Northwest. Okanogan County Sheriff Tony Hawley says Uriel Hyland died and parents Jacob Hyland, 31, and Jamie Hyland, 26, were severely burned while trying to escape the Cold Springs Fire, Fox...

Oregon Fires Could Be Worst in State's History

Hundreds of homes have been destroyed

(Newser) - Deadly windblown wildfires raging across the Pacific Northwest destroyed hundreds of homes in Oregon, the governor said Wednesday, warning it could be the greatest loss of life and property from wildfire in state history. The blazes from the top of the state to the California border caused highway closures and...

Skies Turn Orange &#39;Like a Scene From Mars&#39;
Skies Turn Orange
'Like a Scene
From Mars'
photo gallery
Sep 9, 2020 5:50 PM CDT

Skies Turn Orange 'Like a Scene From Mars'

Wildfires also create 'a strange smell' over the Bay Area

(Newser) - Wildfires raging through Oregon, Washington, California, and neighboring states caused an eerie orange light to appear over parts of the West Coast on Wednesday, NBC News reports. "I have never seen the sky in SF look like this in the nearly 20 years I've lived here," wrote...

Blaze Traps 14 California Firefighters

One was hospitalized in critical condition

(Newser) - A fast-moving wildfire in the mountains along California's central coast trapped 14 firefighters, who deployed emergency shelters as the blaze overran a fire station, authorities say. Several firefighters were treated for burns and one was hospitalized in critical condition Tuesday, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The US Forest Service...

California's Falling Ash May Be Toxic

Because it's 2020 after all

(Newser) - As if a global pandemic, record-high temperatures , a raging wildfire, and news of approaching winds weren't bad enough, Los Angeles County residents are being told to stay inside to avoid exposure to potentially toxic ash. Fine ash has been raining down on the San Gabriel Valley, as well as...

Gender Reveal Party Started 7K-Acre Wildfire: Cal Fire
Gender Reveal Party Has
Now Burned Through 7K Acres
the rundown
Sep 7, 2020 10:25 AM CDT

Gender Reveal Party Has Now Burned Through 7K Acres

Cal Fire blames a 'smoke generating pyrotechnic device'

(Newser) - It's perhaps time for expectant parents of a certain ilk to understand that not everyone at the local fire department cares about the gender of your coming bundle of joy. In the latest gender reveal party gone horribly, horribly wrong, Cal Fire— which is more than a little busy...

With Water Shut Off, Man Fights Fire in Atypical Way

Thank goodness for Bud Light

(Newser) - As the flames from the wildfires currently raging in Northern California approached his home, Chad Little protected it in an unlikely way: with Bud Light. Little stayed behind to defend his Vacaville home as the LNU Lightning Complex Fires came closer, planning to use firehoses and fire hydrants—until the...

As He Fought a California Fire, an 'Absolutely Disgusting' Act

Firefighter's wallet stolen, account drained while he worked; looters also break into evacuated homes

(Newser) - While some firefighting crews are working 72-hour shifts to battle the massive blazes now ravaging California, opportunists are taking advantage of both those on the front lines and residents affected by the fires. "Absolutely disgusting behavior," "saddening," and "sickening" is how fire officials are describing...

'Stretched' Fire Crews Get Some Surprise Help

Homeowners are joining the fight, whether they're wanted or not

(Newser) - As wildfires rage throughout California turning forests and homes into kindling, some firefighters are badly short-staffed, and some residents are taking matters into their own hands, the AP reports. In the Santa Cruz mountains south of San Francisco, about 1,000 firefighters are battling a fire over 78 square miles—...

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