Washington [US], August 21 : At least one person was killed and over 20,000 acres of land were burned as two wildfires gripped Spokane County in the state of Washington, CNN reported on Sunday citing Washington State Department of Natural Resources.
As of Sunday morning, the Oregon Road Fire has burned more than 9,200 acres and the Gray Fire has burned more than 10,800 acres, the department stated.
Both fires have been burning since Friday and are at 0 per cent containment. Portions of both areas remain under evacuation orders and alerts.
The blaze damaged at least 185 structures and resulted in power outages in parts of Medical Lake, according to the Department of Natural Resources.
Meanwhile, Washington Governor Jay Inslee issued an emergency proclamation on Saturday after a wildfire continued to spread through Spokane County, The Hill reported.
“As these fires rage in Spokane County, we want to thank the first responders who are doing such tremendous work in a coordinated effort. Thank them if you get a chance. We want people to be safe, this is our first priority, is saving lives, and we hope everybody will focus on that,” Inslee said in a video message posted late Saturday.
He further said that the mayors have assured of providing all resources for rescue work.
“I’ve spoken to the mayors of Medical Lake, Mayor [Terri] Cooper, and Mayor [Chris] Grover of Cheney, Sheriff [John] Nowels. They’ve assured me that the state is providing all the resources that they think could be brought to bear on this, but we’re going to continue to help in every way that we can,” Inslee added.
The Gray Fire closed an interstate highway, I-90, from Sprague to Geiser. Evacuation orders have been issued for parts of the county, as per The Hill.
As of August 20, more than 93 wildfires are ongoing across the US, having burned more than a half million acres in at least 14 states, CNN reported citing the National Interagency Fire Center.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor