Wildfires destroy hundreds of buildings, displace tens of thousands in Washington state
Firefighters are battling a series of blazes that began this weekend in Washington state and are continuing to burn in and around Spokane, the state's second most populous city. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced and hundreds of buildings have been destroyed. Stephanie Sy reports.
Firefighters are battling a series of blazes in Washington state, around the city of Spokane, which is the state's second most populous city. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced and hundreds of buildings have been destroyed. According to MyJoyOnline Ghana, around 60,000 people have been forced to evacuate and 600 buildings have been destroyed.
The fires remain uncontained, with Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown saying nearly half of the city's neighborhoods have either been evacuated or are at risk, according to NPR. The National Weather Service had warned of "extremely critical" fire weather over the weekend, with strong winds and dry conditions helping the flames spread rapidly.
The situation has been described as "the worst natural disaster our region has faced" by Mayor Lisa Brown, who added that authorities are assessing the damage and discussing potential loss of life. No deaths or injuries have been confirmed.
Brief written by urgent.news from PBS NewsHour Science, PBS NewsHour Health, MyJoyOnline Ghana, NPR — 4 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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- Virulent wildfires raze entire neighbourhoods in Washington state france24.com
- Wildfires destroy hundreds of buildings, displace tens of thousands in Washington state pbs.org
- Washington State wildfires destroy over 700 buildings and force 64,000 to flee japantimes.co.jp
- Washington wildfires destroy homes, force thousands to evacuate npr.org
- Why are the Washington wildfires so severe? Spokane fires explained aljazeera.com
- Washington's wildfires are a warning for the entire U.S. scientificamerican.com
