Deadly fires rage through West Coast states

(AP) Deadly wildfires in heavily populated northwest Oregon were growing, with hundreds of thousands of people told to flee encroaching flames while residents to the south tearfully assessed their losses.

The Oregon Office of Emergency Management reported that by Thursday evening, the number of people evacuated statewide because of fires had climbed to an estimated 500,000. That’s over 10% of the 4.2 million residents of the state.

One fire approached Molalla, triggering a mandatory evacuation order for the community of about 9,000 people located 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Portland. A police car rolled through the streets with a loudspeaker blaring “evacuate now.”

A Northern California wildfire that destroyed a foothill hamlet has become the state’s deadliest blaze of the year with 10 people confirmed dead — and the toll could climb as searchers look for 16 missing people.

Authorities say the North Complex fire that exploded in wind-driven flames earlier in the week is advancing more slowly Friday after the winds eased and smoke from the blaze shaded the area and lowered the temperature, allowing firefighters to make progress. That was a change from the hot weather and gusty winds that two days earlier sent flames exploding through foothills northeast of San Francisco, destroying at least 2,000 buildings.