West Coast fires: Death toll reaches 33 as states deal with poor air quality
The wildfires ravaging the West Coast have killed at least 33 people in California, Oregon, and Washington.
Authorities say 22 people have died in California, 10 in Oregon, and one in Washington. The fires have destroyed thousands of homes and buildings across the three states, and forced tens of thousands of residents to evacuate. Because of the smoke and ash, the air quality is hazardous is many areas, and high wind warnings are in place for southern Oregon and Northern California through Monday evening.
The governors of those states, all Democrats, say the fires are due to climate change, while President Trump, who will visit California on Monday to discuss the blazes with officials, has instead blamed inadequate forest management. "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 to deny that these are not just wildfires, these are climate fires," Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) said on Sunday's This Week.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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