With several catastrophic fires burning across Oregon, Gov. Kate Brown (D) warned on Wednesday that all residents "must be on high alert," as the blazes could lead to the "greatest loss of human life and property due to wildfire in our state's history."
The fires spread during a windstorm on Monday, and Brown said hundreds of homes have been destroyed. Some areas are still so dangerous that Oregon Deputy State Fire Marshal Mariana Ruiz-Temple said it isn't safe for officials to survey the damages. It is believed that the fires near Medford and Salem are especially destructive, The Associated Press reports, and police have confirmed that a 12-year-old boy and his grandmother were killed by a fire in the city of Lyons.
In Washington, the small farming town of Malden was almost completely destroyed by a fast-moving fire, and a 1-year-old boy was killed in Okanogan County when his family was overrun by flames as they tried to escape their home, Sheriff Tony Hawley said Wednesday. The boy's parents have been hospitalized with third-degree burns.
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