US wildfires: Oregon braces for 'mass fatalities'

Firefighters were battling wildfires across the west coast of the United States late Saturday as the death toll in California, Oregon and Washington rose to at least 30.

Authorities said they were expecting the death count to rise sharply as they continued to search for dozens of missing people.

Oregon Governor Kate Brown confirmed that state emergency officials were anticipating a "mass fatality event."

Read more: Wildfires: Can we adapt to live with them?

In California, the fires have burned a record-shattering 13,000 square kilometers (about 5,000 square miles) since January — a burn area 26 times larger than the same time last year.

Fires have burned more than 4,000 square kilometers in Oregon and more than 2,400 square kilometers in Washington.

Smog in Seattle

The three states had some of the worst air quality in the world, with smog descending on major cities like Portland and Seattle.

At least 40,000 people have fled their homes in Oregon alone, thousands more in California.

US President Donald Trump announced he will visit McClellan Park, near California's capital Sacramento, on Monday to be briefed on the fire.

Firefighters hoped that improved weather conditions over the weekend would allow them to get the fires under control. Several major fires, such as the Holiday Farm fire in southern Oregon, are 0% contained.

Facebook cracks down on misinformation

Facebook started to remove false claims that the deadly wildfires in Oregon were started by far-left and far-right groups, a spokesman for the social media giant confirmed.

State officials have been keen to debunk posts that claim that the fires were deliberately set by extremist groups.

Facebook has previously used warning labels to indicate posts with potentially misleading information, but will now actively remove certain posts.

"This is based on confirmation from law enforcement that these rumors are forcing local fire and police agencies to divert resources from fighting the fires and protecting the public," Facebook's Communications officer Andy Stone wrote on Twitter.

Experts say the increase in wildfires in 2020 is owing to weather conditions caused by climate change.

ed/rc (AP, AFP, dpa)