Oregon, California and Washington State: Live Wildfires Updates

“California, Oregon, Washington, we are all in the same soup of cataclysmic fire,” he added.

In California, the fast-moving Bear Fire grew unabated as one of hundreds of wildfires across the

state. The Bear Fire, burning near Chico, destroyed dozens of homes in Butte County, where three people were found dead, and the community of Berry Creek was hit especially hard.

It also cast ash over the Bay Area, turning the sky into a thick, orange mix of fog and smoke. The National Weather Service said smoky and hazy conditions would likely continue in the Bay Area for the remainder of the week.

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The Creek Fire near Fresno, in Central California, remained completely uncontained, growing to more than 175,000 acres by Thursday morning. Thousands of people evacuated their homes, emergency teams searched for injured survivors and the U.S. Forest Service closed all 18 national forests in California, fearing that people could become trapped in the parks.

In addition to the three people found dead in Butte County, a 1-year-old boy was killed in the Cold Springs Fire in northern Washington, one person was killed near Ashland, Ore., two victims were discovered in a vehicle east of Salem, Ore., according to the county sheriff’s offices.