EASING winds and rising humidity have helped firefighters battle huge blazes in Oregon that have taken a deadly toll across the US state.
Governor Kate Brown said dozens of people are still missing and tens of thousands have been forced to flee their homes.
The state’s emergency management director, Andrew Phelps, said officials are “preparing for a mass fatality event” and thousands of structures have been destroyed.
Oregon officials have not released an exact death count but at least eight fatalities have been reported.
Marion County sheriff Joe Kast said on Friday evening that searchers had found two victims of the Beachie Creek fire near Salem.
A one-year-old boy was killed in wildfires in Washington.
Brown said more than 40,000 Oregonians have been evacuated and about 500,000 are in different levels of evacuation zones – having been told to leave or to prepare to do so.
Authorities said a man has been arrested on two counts of arson in connection with a fire in the state.
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