The fury of the wind has subsided and the humidity has risen, making fighting the devastating fires that have been causing
death and destruction
for days on the West Coast that much easier.
But in both Oregon and California, authorities expect more fatalities than the 28 that have been recorded in both states since August, when a heat wave favored conditions for a first wave of brutal fires in the region.
Multiple fires remain uncontrolled in California.
In the north, two hours by car from Sacramento, what is considered the largest in the state's history is 25% contained, according to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).
Not far from there, another largely uncontrolled wildfire has already killed 10 in Butte County.
Another nine people have died since last month in this state.
Ellie Owens, an 8-year-old girl, looks on Friday at the bleak outlook left by a fire in Grants Pass, Oregon.
AP / AP
Several Latino residents in the area had to run away or had their belongings burned by the flames.
"I grabbed my animals and left very quickly," Wilson Guerrero told Noticias Telemundo.
As he was leaving, he saw "trees falling" and the wind "blowing embers."
"It was very close," said Honduran Ramiro Vásquez, who has been in California for a month.
"As it is early morning,
the glow is very strong
and the sound of the fire too," he added.
[Farmers in California and Oregon fight a tough battle amid fires]
The president, Donald Trump, will visit areas affected by the fires in this state on Monday, according to the White House press officer Judd Deere.
In neighboring Oregon, the situation is similar.
Several fires that have spread in recent days have already burned about a million acres of land.
At least
40,000 people received evacuation orders,
tens of thousands more are alerted that the same could happen to them and there are dozens of missing, while at least eight lost their lives.
Historic California wildfires kill at least 20 people and high levels of air pollution
Sept.
11, 202002: 25
The state's emergency management director, Andrew Phelps, said Friday that it was possible to expect
"a situation with multiple deaths
.
"
"Many buildings were lost. There will be a series of deaths, people who simply could not receive a warning in time, evacuate from their homes and get to safety," he added in statements to our sister network MSNBC.
In Washington, there were 10 active fires and at least one death was recorded as of Friday, according to a count by NBC News, another sister network to Telemundo.
The fire destroyed 80% of the small town of Malden Monday, wiping out its post office, fire department, city hall and library, sheriff officials said.
[This is how this disaster of historic magnitude looks from space]
The state's governor, Democrat Jay Inslee, called the fires
"weather fires"
rather than wildfires.
"This is not an act of God," he said, "this has happened because we have changed the climate."
A cyclist rides through his burning city in Oregon
Sept.
11, 202002: 29
Gavin Newsom, Inslee's California counterpart, echoed him in remarks to NBC News.
"California, the West Coast of the United States, which includes Washington and obviously Oregon, is experiencing what people predicted would happen in 2040, 2050, but we are experiencing it today," he said.
Meanwhile,
thousands of firefighters continue to fight
to quell the flames.
And thousands of people hope that the weather forecasts for the next few days will be fulfilled and that a cooler climate and even some rains can help them in their difficult task.
With information from AP, NBC News, MSNBC.