(CNN) - Wildfires scorching the West Coast have devastated the small city of Detroit, Oregon - located about 120 miles southeast of Portland - where a majority of the structures in the rural enclave have been flattened by fire. "We have approximately 20-25 structures still standing, and the rest are gone," officials with the Idanha-Detroit Rural Fire Protection District said on their Facebook page. City hall, where the fire department's district office is based, was one of many buildings that burned down.
"Our primary focus is protecting the structures that are still standing," the officials said on their Facebook page. "Several of our firefighters have also lost their homes. They are working through their own losses while also fighting to protect homes still intact." Resident Elizabeth Smith lost everything in the wildfires. "Our homes are absolutely destroyed. I've seen a few videos and photos and my lovely little house that we remodelled 12 years ago in this beautiful canyon area is absolutely flattened.
Major fires spanning several states have burned 4.6 million acres, national fire officials say. That's an area roughly equivalent to Connecticut and Rhode Island combined. While the 94 major blazes are burning mostly in rural and forested areas, major cities along the West Coast - Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Portland, Oregon, among them - are also feeling the impact.
Smoke from the blazes is making air quality unhealthy, which can irritate lungs, cause inflammation and affect the immune system, heightening the risk of lung infections such as coronavirus. In Oakland, California, where many businesses and facilities are closed because of statewide Covid-19 precautions, officials have opened "clean air centres" for those with nowhere else to go, CNN affiliate KGO reported.
Of the people killed since some of the fires broke out in mid-August, 22 have been in California, many in recent days. Ten people have been killed in Oregon, and a child was killed in Washington state. The majority of the fires are in California (25), Washington (16), Oregon (13) and Idaho (10), though blazes have also emerged in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, the National Interagency Fire Center said Sunday morning.
"More than 30,000 firefighters and support personnel are assigned to incidents across the country," the centre said Sunday. President Donald Trump is planning to visit McClellan Park, California, Monday for a wildfires briefing. There's no indication whether Trump will visit any wildfire stricken areas during his trip. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden will deliver remarks on the wildfires Monday from Delaware at 1 p.m. He "will discuss the threat that extreme weather events pose to Americans everywhere," according to the Biden campaign.
Three California fires reach historic proportions.In California, firefighters are battling more than two dozen major fires, but officials expressed hope that improving weather conditions will boost efforts to control the flames. Three of the five largest wildfires in state history are burning now, officials say. One of those blazes, the LNU Complex Fire, which was about 96% contained as of Saturday, has burned more than 363,000 acres. The fire is burning in Northern California wine country, and vintners worry the smoke will taint the grapes, reducing this year's yield.
'We saw the perfect storm'
At least eight of Oregon's wildfires are expected to burn "until the winter's rains fall," said state Department of Forestry Fire Chief Doug Grafe. Four of the 10 people killed in Oregon's wildfires died in the Beachie Creek Fire in Marion County, where Detroit is located. Two victims identified by the Marion County Medical Examiner's Office were Wyatt Tofte, 13, and Peggy Mosso, 71, both of Lyons, about 60 miles southeast of Portland. Wyatt was found in a car with his dog in his lap while Mosso, his grandmother, was found in another car nearby. Her daughter and Wyatt's mother, Angela, attempted to save her and was badly burned. Two other victims were located but have not been recovered because of treacherous conditions.
80% of buildings in Washington town destroyed.
The past five days in Washington have made for the state's second-worst fire season in history, Gov. Jay Inslee said. As of Saturday, 15 major fires were burning. A 1-year-old boy died and his parents were badly burned as they tried to escape a wildfire, officials said. The family was visiting their property west of Spokane and evacuated when the wildfire encroached. They abandoned their vehicle and fled to a river, CNN affiliate KCRA reported. The couple was rescued, but their son did not make it. Another child was killed in the Cold Springs Fire in Omak, near the Canadian border, officials said. Earlier this week, Inslee visited Malden in eastern Washington, where 80% of the city's buildings - including the fire station, post office, city hall and library - were destroyed. "It looked like a bomb went off," city officials said, according to CNN affiliate KIRO. In Seattle, the Woodland Park Zoo said Sunday it is temporarily closing its doors because of the air quality, though a team will remain at the facility to monitor the animals for "respiratory compromise," it said.
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