San Francisco: Dozens of extreme wind-driven wildfires burned through forests and towns in US west coast states on Thursday, destroying hundreds of homes and killing seven people.

In the past 48 hours, three people died from a lightning-sparked fire in northern California, while three were reported dead in Oregon and a one-year-old boy died in Washington state, police reported. Hundreds of thousands have evacuated their homes in the three states.

Oregon bore the brunt of nearly 100 major wildfires ripping across the western states, with around 3,000 firefighters battling nearly three dozen wildfires. The blazes tore through at least five communities in Oregon’s Cascade mountain range as well as areas of coastal rain forest normally spared from wildfires.

East of Salem, Oregon, search and rescue teams entered destroyed communities like Detroit where firefighters led residents on a dramatic mountain escape after military helicopters were unable to evacuate the town.

A 12-year-old boy was found dead with his dog inside a burned car and his grandmother was believed to be dead after flames engulfed an area near Lyons, Oregon, about 80 kilometres south of Portland.

To the south, most of the city of Medford, population 82,000 residents, was told to evacuate or prepare to evacuate as fires burned around the city.

A Reuters photographer saw nearby small communities including Bear Lake Estates reduced to ashes as he drove south on Interstate 5 towards Ashland.

Some people counted their blessings after fleeing the Bear Creek trailer park, where nearly every home burned. Fire moved north up the highway, wiping out whole subdivisions where embers touched down.

“Thank God we were at home,” said Julio Flores, a resident of the community who escaped with two children who would have been alone had his restaurant working hours not been cut due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A fire was suspected of causing at least one death outside of Ashland, said Rich Tyler, spokesman for the Oregon State Fire Marshal.

Published in Dawn, September 11th, 2020