USA: In a fiery inferno in the western part – Hundreds of people left their homes

A huge forest fire is raging out of control in Oregon, USA, while several areas in the western part of the country are affected by fires due to which thousands of people were forced to leave their homes, local authorities announced.

Nearly 350,000 acres have burned from what has been dubbed the Cedar Creek Fire, which has quadrupled in size in four days and is raging in two counties in central Oregon, according to the National Wildfire Coordination Service (NWCG).

More than 2,000 residents and 400 commercial buildings are threatened by the fire. At the same time, for a few days the authorities have activated the third level of their evacuation plan in some areas, which means that in these areas the danger is immediate and that the residents must leave them immediately.

Hundreds of citizens have been ordered to evacuate and authorities have warned thousands more to prepare.

Smoke from the fire has blanketed the area and affected air quality, the NWCG said.

The “Cedar Creek Fire” spread because of weather conditions that prevailed last week: a combination of easterly winds, high temperatures and drought.

Eight helicopters and more than 1,000 firefighters were today trying to contain the blaze, which broke out on August 1. Yesterday Sunday the firefighters focused on creating fire zones along the roads.

The western US is suffering the effects of more than two decades of drought, exacerbated by climate change.

Currently more than 90 wildfires are active in eight states in the western US, choking the atmosphere in major cities such as Seattle, among them the “Fairview Fire” in the Los Angeles area and the “Mosquito Fire” in the outskirts of Sacramento .

RES-EMP

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