Showers bring relief to fire-ravaged Oregon as death toll rises in
California
Send a link to a friend
[September 19, 2020]
By Brad Brooks
GATES, Ore. (Reuters) - Intermittently
heavy showers brought some relief to flame-stricken western Oregon on
Friday, helping firefighters to further subdue deadly blazes that have
ravaged much of the state and choked its air with smoke for the better
part of two weeks.
Oregon was especially hard hit by scores of wind-driven wildfires that
erupted all at once across the western United States earlier this month
in the midst of catastrophic lightning storms, record-breaking heat and
howling winds.
"We lost everything, but we will start all over again," said Bill
Kesselring, 73, pointing to the spot where the log cabin he shared with
his wife had stood on the outskirts of Gates, Oregon, a Cascade Mountain
village 80 miles south of Portland.
The cabin and a garage housing a beloved antique car Kesselring had just
finished restoring were both reduced to charred rubble. Only the
fireplace and chimney remained of the home.
"It breaks my heart. You work hard all your life and then get hit with a
disaster like this," he told Reuters.
Unaccustomed to the sheer scope and magnitude of the conflagrations,
Oregon's ill-equipped firefighters initially struggled for days to even
keep pace with the blazes, before cooler, moister and less windy weather
settled over the region, and reinforcements could arrive.
ANOTHER LIFE LOST IN CALIFORNIA
By Thursday, officials in Oregon, Washington state and California said
they were making steady progress suppressing the fires. Brightening the
outlook further, much-welcomed rains doused Oregon on Friday, even as
the tri-state death toll from the fires rose to 35.
The U.S. Forest Service in California reported that a firefighter had
perished on Thursday in a blaze still burning nearly two weeks after it
was ignited by pyrotechnics at an outdoor gender-reveal party east of
Los Angeles.
Authorities withheld the identify of the fallen firefighter pending
notification of family members, and no details of the circumstances were
released.
The death in the San Bernardino National Forest became the 26th
fire-related fatality in California over the past month. That tally
includes two other firefighters - a Forest Service contractor killed in
a lightning-sparked fire in the Mendocino National Forest, and a private
helicopter pilot whose chopper crashed on a water-dropping mission in
Fresno County last month.
Wildfires have claimed at least eight other lives in Oregon and one in
Washington state, all civilians.
Flames have blackened a record 3.2 million acres (1.3 million hectares)
in California alone since mid-August. Another 1.7 million acres (650,000
hectares) have burned in Oregon and Washington state since Labor Day.
The blazes, described by scientists and officials as unprecedented in
scope and ferocity, have largely incinerated several small towns, along
with thousands of dwellings.
[to top of second column]
|
Firefighters from Mexico and Honduras cut and move branches in the
Fremont National Forest while prepping the fire line ahead of the
Brattain Fire in the outskirts of Paisley, Oregon, U.S., September
17, 2020. REUTERS/Adrees Latif
'BEAUTY SCAR'
Thousands of evacuees, particularly in Oregon, remained huddled in
emergency shelters, mobile trailers and hotel rooms. And Oregon
emergency management officials have warned the death toll there
could climb as search teams scour the ruins of homes engulfed in
flames during chaotic evacuations early in the disaster.
Justin Gaskill, 28, a U.S. Army veteran leading a community watch
organization that was also organizing food relief efforts, said
residents in the fire-ravaged town of Estacada, Oregon, where he was
born and raised, were still in a state of shock but resolved to
rebuild.
"I like to say that this event is going to leave our community with
a beauty scar," he said. "We've been wounded but so many beautiful
opportunities to share and show our strength as a town are coming
out of this."
Thundershowers brought drenching rains to the western slopes of the
Cascade Mountains late Thursday and through Friday, helping a force
of more than 6,000 firefighters make further headway against 10
major blazes still burning in Oregon.
The heavy rains also prompted flood and landslide warnings in areas
where fire has stripped hillsides and canyons of vegetation.
Cooler, more favorable weather in the region since last week has
already dispelled some of the smoky, polluted air and tempered the
flames, enabling ground teams with axes and bulldozers to take the
offensive while also allowing greater use of water-dropping
helicopters and airplane tankers.
Higher humidity levels were likewise bolstering hopes for subduing
blazes in the greater San Francisco Bay area.
"Milder weather is helping the fire fight as crews continue to gain
ground on many of the major incidents," the California Department of
Forestry and Fire Protection said on Friday.
(Reporting by Brad Brooks in Gates, Oregon; Additional reporting by
Steve Gorman, Maria Caspani and Gabriella Borter; Writing by Will
Dunham and Steve Gorman; Editing by Timothy Gardner, David Gregorio,
Aurora Ellis and Daniel Wallis)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |