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Deadly Northwest Fires Burn Hundreds of Homes

Associated Press

   ESTACADA, OREGON - 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 smoky skies and had firefighters struggling to
   contain and douse flames fanned by 80-kph wind gusts. Officials in some
   western Oregon communities gave residents "go now" orders to evacuate,
   meaning they had minutes to flee their homes.

   Fires were burning in a large swath of Washington state and Oregon that
   rarely experiences such intense wildfire activity because of the
   Pacific Northwest's cool and wet climate.

   Flames trapped firefighters and civilians behind fire lines in Oregon
   and leveled an entire small town in eastern Washington. Oregon Gov.
   Kate Brown warned that the devastation could be overwhelming from the
   fires that exploded Monday during a late-summer windstorm.

   "Everyone must be on high alert," Brown said. The blazes were thought
   to be extremely destructive around Medford, in southern Oregon, and
   near the state capital of Salem.

   "This could be the greatest loss of human life and property due to
   wildfire in our state's history," the governor said.

   At least two people were killed in Oregon fires, along with a small
   child in a Washington state blaze. Brown said some communities were
   substantially damaged, with "hundreds of homes lost."

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