GATES (Oregon, US), Sept 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Intermittently heavy showers brought some relief to flame-stricken western Oregon, 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.
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.
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 US 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 identity 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 1.3 million hectares in California alone since mid-August. Another 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.
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 US 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.
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. — NNN-AGENCIESa
