PORTLAND: Dense smog from US wildfires that have burnt nearly 5 million acres and killed 27 people smothered the West Coast on Saturday (Sep 12), as presidential challenger Joe Biden warned climate change is becoming an existential issue.
US officials girded for the possibility of further fatalities as wide stretches of land in California, Oregon and Washington remained cut off by flames fueled by tinder-dry conditions of the kind caused by climate change.
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Unprecedented infernos have now destroyed an area roughly the size of New Jersey.
"The science is clear, and deadly signs like these are unmistakable – climate change poses an imminent, existential threat to our way of life," said Biden, the Democratic nominee who will face President Donald Trump at the polls on Nov 3.
"President Trump can try to deny that reality, but the facts are undeniable," he said.
Commentary: America needs a government without the drama or disaster
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The political row comes as Trump prepares to visit California on Monday for a briefing on the wildfires, which he has previously sought to blame on mismanagement by state officials.
Worsening the sense of environmental catastrophe, all five of the world's most air-polluted cities on Saturday were on the West Coast, according to IQAir, with dense smog and ash from the blazes coating the atmosphere from Los Angeles up to Vancouver in Canada.
Local residents cross a street as smoke from wildfires covers an area near Salem, Oregon, U.S., September 10, 2020. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
In Portland, thick, choking smoke blanketed the downtown area Saturday morning.
"It is as if I had smoked 100 cigarettes. I've never seen this but we try to stay positive as conditions are getting better," said a 37-year-old man who gave his name only as Jessie.
"DROPPED OUT OF THE SKY"
More than 20,000 firefighters are battling the blazes, with officials warning that a respite provided by the arrival of cooler weather could end on Monday with the return of warmer, drier weather.
Emergency official Andrew Phelps warned Oregon is "preparing for a mass fatality incident based on what we know and the number of structures that have been lost".
A man walks by CORT Furniture Outlet on Sutter St as an orange wildfire haze blankets San Francisco, California, Sep 9, 2020 in this image obtained from social media. (Photo: Reuters/Adrianna Tan)
In California, Butte County sheriff Kory Honea said additional officials had been brought in to check for human remains, but "right now, the areas that we need to search are too hot".
READ: As wildfires rage, US voters still divided on climate
Oregon has suffered another four deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the West Coast region's death toll this week alone to 19.
Among them was a 13-year-old boy found in a car with his dog in his lap in Oregon. The road was so hot it had melted the tires as he tried to flee.
One 56-year-old woman told AFP she and her daughter don't know if their ash-caked house in Aims, a short drive east of Portland, is still standing.
"To be honest, if we have to rebuild, we have to rebuild … I am just thankful that we're alive," she said.
"We saw a bird that was flying and then all sudden it just completely dropped out of the sky … if it's killing God's creatures, I don't want to die too. So we left."
ANATOMICAL SKELETON
California has already seen more thRead More – Source
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