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Unprecedented bushfires kills 15 in Western US over 500,000 evacuated

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Unprecedented bushfires engulf the US West coast as firefighters went about it trying to put it off on Friday.

The fire killed 15 people and forced over 500,000 residents to flee from their homes.


The rescue officials warned that more death could be recorded if people refuse to evacuate.

The fire which stretched through California, Oregon and Washington is fueled by heat waves and intense dry winds.

Cal Fire spokesperson said on Thursday evening that more than 2.6 million acres have been consumed by the fire across the whole state.

Over half a million people have been evacuated in neighboring Oregon.

The government said firefighters were “prioritising life (and) safety as they battle a record 900,000 acres of wildfires.”

Governor Kate Brown said over five towns had been “substantially destroyed.” .

She said the amount of land affected by fires in just the last 72 hours was twice the state’s annual average.

“We have never seen this amount of uncontained fire across our state,” she told a press conference.

Climate change is one of the reasons for these unprecedented fires.

It caused droughts which dry out regions, creating ideal conditions for wildfires to spread out-of-control and inflict unprecedented material and environmental damage.

Police said the death toll had jumped to 10 in northern California’s Butte County on Thursday while Local Oregon officials confirmed two deaths in the Santiam Canyon region south of Portland, and a third in the Ashland area, near the California border.

A Cal fire spokesperson said one unidentified person was killed in far northern California, near the remote rural community of Happy Camp.

A one-year-old boy also got burnt to death while his parents suffered severe burns as they attempted to flee an inferno 130 miles east of Seattle.

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