With thick smoke blanketing large parts of Washington, Oregon and California and tens of thousands of people evacuated, the fires have been the worst in decades, exacerbated by climate change. By Saturday, fires in California had burned 26 times more territory than at the same time last year. Across the West this weekend, law enforcement authorities were scouring incinerated communities for missing persons. They were rescued by the side of a river with serious burns after attempting to escape with the baby in a truck. A 77-year-old woman died when flames overtook her home and her car in the Sierra Nevada foothills.

Source: New York Times September 12, 2020 15:31 UTC