President Donald Trump was scheduled to visit a wildfire command center and meet with California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday as the death toll from scores of wildfires roaring across much of the West rose to at least 35.
Firefighters struggled with high winds and low humidity in their furious battle for containment. Meteorologist Dan Borsum said strong southerly winds and low humidity Monday will result in elevated fire weather conditions across the region. He said conditions may improve a little bit Tuesday.
Borsum added the air quality in the region may not improve until October.
Two more deaths were reported California, raising the death toll there to 24. Ten deaths have been reported in Oregon and one in Washington state since a rash of fires began burning in drought conditions a month ago.
Several people remain missing and an unknown number of homes have been destroyed.
‘Everything’s gone’: Fire, smoke devastate Oregon families, workers, homeless
What’s happening today:
- Trump to visit fire command center in California, meet with Gov. Gavin Newsom.
- Search continues for several people missing from California’s North Complex Fire.
- More than 30,000 firefighters and support personnel are assigned to almost 100 major fires burning in the West, the National Fire Information Center says.
No containment yet for Oregon’s killer Beachie Creek Fire
Growth on two major Oregon fires burning northeast of Salem has slowed but they remain 0% contained, authorities said Monday. The Beachie Creek and Riverside fires are one mile apart but a merge is not imminent, according to Oregon State Fire Marshal officials. The Beachie Creek Fire has killed four people and destroyed most of the tourist town of Detroit.
“One of our focuses right now is getting containment around the fire up, getting good fire lines around it,” Beachie Creek Fire spokesman Stefan Myers said.
– Virginia Barreda and Zach Urness, Salem Statesman Journal
Trump, quiet on fires, to pay visit today
President Donald Trump, out west for a series of campaign fundraisers and rallies, will meet with California Gov. Gavin Newsom and visit a fire command center in Sacramento County today where he will be briefed by local and federal fire and emergency officials, the White House said. Trump has had little to say about the fires, either on Twitter or in his public appearances, although he did thank the firefighters in a tweet Friday and indicated that financial help was on the way. Last month he had threatened to withhold federal money.
“I see again the forest fires are starting,” he said at an August rally in Pennsylvania. “They’re starting again in California. I said, you gotta clean your floors, you gotta clean your forests. … “Maybe we’re just going to have to make them pay for it because they don’t listen to us.”
Wildfires turn up heat on climate-change debate
Trump’s assertions that forest management is to blame for the fires is falling deaf ears among Democratic political leaders on the West Coast as they grapple with how to douse the blazes. Inslee, speaking Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” described climate change as “a blowtorch over our states in the West.”
“It is maddening right now that when we have this cosmic challenge to our communities, with the entire West Coast of the United States on fire, to have a president deny that,” Inslee said. “These are climate fires.”
Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, also appeared on the program, pointing out that the Cascade snowpacks have gotten smaller and forests drier.
“The president has said it’s all about raking the forest. It’s just a big and devastating lie,” Merkley said.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom tweeted: “The hots are getting hotter. The wets are getting wetter. Climate change isn’t something that is going to happen in the future. It’s happening right NOW.”
Seven remain missing in North Complex Fires
In California, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea announced two more people have died from the North Complex Fire, bringing the death toll to 14. Honea said seven people remain missing, but added his office has “leads” on all of them. More than 160 people once listed as missing have been located, he said. The fire, which has burned more than 400 square miles in Butte and Plumas counties, was listed as 26% contained Monday. The fire, about 80 miles north of Sacramento, has been burning for almost a month.
Suspended Oregon fire marshal explains why he quit
State Fire Marshal Jim Walker made an offer to a distraught employee that he says ultimately led to his resignation. The employee was worried about a relative who lived an area where four people have died since the Beachie Creek Fire raced through the area a week ago. So, on Thursday night, Walker and a member of the incident management team searched through the dark and dense smoke of the canyon. All but one were accounted for. The next day Walker, who reports to State Police Superintendent Travis Hampton, was placed on paid leave.
“Their take was … you’re using your position or your job to be able to go into that area,” Walker said. “I can’t in good faith work in a system that’s non-supportive to what I see as needing to be provided to our firefighters on the ground.”
– Claire Withycombe, Salem Statesman Journal
‘I could never have envisioned this’: At least 35 dead as nearly 100 wildfires rage
Fire closes in on gateway city to Sequoia National Park
A section of Sequoia National Park was closed as the Sequoia Complex Fire threatens Three Rivers, a gateway city to the park. Three Rivers is a town of more than 2,000 people in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada at the edge of the San Joaquin Valley.
“Our No. 1 priority is public and employee safety. It is crucial to take care of our staff and our gateway community of Three Rivers,” said Acting Superintendent Lee Taylor. “With this partial park closure, it is our intention to reduce possible evacuation complexity of the Three Rivers community by reducing the amount of visitors in the area.”
– Sheyanne N. Romero and James Ward, Visalia Times-Delta
29 major fires burning in California alone
Cal Fire has provided a grim update on the state’s wildfires. Over 16,750 firefighters are battling 29 major wildfires across California. Since the beginning of the year, wildfires have burned over 3.3 million acres in the state, an area larger than the state of Connecticut. Since Aug. 15, when California’s fire activity elevated amid thousands of lightning strikes in parched forests and brush, more than 4,100 structures have been destroyed.
Contributing: The Associated Press
Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/09/14/western-fires-35-dead-air-quality-may-not-improve-until-october/5790205002/
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