Oregon blaze latest to engulf battered US West

LOS ANGELES－A massive wildfire was burning out of control on Monday in Oregon, forcing residents to flee and threatening towns and thousands of homes in the latest blaze to scorch the US West during a blistering summer.

Dozens of active infernos in California, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and other western states have ravaged more than 3,100 square kilometers, worsening air quality and highlighting the devastating effects of a historic two-decade-plus drought that has left the region parched.

The Cedar Creek Fire east of the city of Eugene, Oregon, experienced "extreme" growth over the weekend and had consumed 35,100 hectares－roughly twice the size of the US capital Washington－with no containment as of Monday, according to the National Wildfire Coordinating Group.

More than 1,200 firefighters and other personnel have converged on the steep mountainous terrain, much of it in US national forest land and hard to reach.

"They have been constructing fire lines away from the active fire edge, along roads and trails, where they have a better chance of successfully stopping the fire," the coordinating group reported.

Evacuations were ordered for Lane and Deschutes counties, and the Deschutes and Willamette national forests have been closed. More than 2,000 homes were under threat, authorities said.

Dense smoke has enveloped the region, and according to the coordinating group, "smoke has created unhealthy air quality for communities east of the fire as well, including Bend", a town that serves as a gateway for outdoor tourism.

"Get out of here as fast as I can," Herman Schimmel, who moved to the small town of Westfir only recently, told The Oregonian newspaper. "That's all I was thinking about."

Local media reported that cooler and calmer weather had improved conditions somewhat later on Monday, with officials easing evacuation instructions in some areas.

The western United States is more than 20 years into a historic drought that scientists say is being worsened by human-made climate change.

Much of the countryside is parched, creating conditions for hot, fast and destructive wildfires.

An even larger blaze was burning in northwestern Oregon on Monday, in a more remote region. The Double Creek Fire, first detected on Aug 30, was 15 percent contained.

According to the National Interagency Fire Center, more than 90 fires were burning across seven states in the West: California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

Meanwhile, firefighters were working to contain the major Fairview Fire, south of Los Angeles, which has claimed two lives.

Agencies Via Xinhua