Deadly wildfires rage in California, Oregon and Washington

President Trump has yet to offer any public statement of support during historic wildfires spreading in the Pacific Northwest and Northern California — even though he vowed federal intervention in those states earlier this summer amid racial unrest.

Trump last weighed in the devastating fires in California in the middle of August, when another round of blazes was burning north of the Bay Area. His familiar response was to blame the state’s forest management. 

He hasn’t weighed in on the more recent fires, which have spread to Washington and Oregon. He sent several tweets and retweets on Thursday morning but none about the fires. 

What it's like on the ground: Oregon’s governor has said there could be unparalleled devastation in her state, both in terms of property damage and deaths. More than 2.5 million acres have burned in California, a historic figure. 

FEMA has freed up some federal funds for combatting the blazes and Trump signed a disaster declaration for California in August, but he has yet to sign one for Oregon, whose governor said she sent in the request on Wednesday night. And he’s so far remained largely silent on the spreading fires. 

That is hardly the same response Trump demonstrated after protests turned violent in Portland and Seattle earlier this summer. Trump dispatched federal law enforcement to Portland to protect a federal courthouse, leading to scenes of violent clashes and accusations of federal overreach. Federal officers were also dispatched to Seattle amid protests. 

In total, one person has died in the Portland unrest. So far at least seven people have died in the wildfires and more deaths are expected. 

Some background: Trump has a history of dismissing wildfires and other natural disasters on the West Coast, where he does not enjoy widespread support. When he visited the site of a major fire in Butte County in 2018, he mistakenly called the town “Pleasure” instead of “Paradise.”

A former DHS official, Miles Taylor, has said Trump sought to withhold emergency money to California during previous fires. 

“He told us to stop giving money to people whose houses had burned down from a wildfire because he was so rageful that people in the state of California didn’t support him and that politically it wasn’t a base for him,” Taylor said recently. 

Orange and even red skies blanketed San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley, and ash rained down yesterday, with wildfires raging far in the distance.

Residents turned on lights, looking into a rust-colored sky that made it look like nighttime. Winds are carrying the wildfire smoke from afar. Both the Creek Fire and the North Complex Fire are burning more than 200 miles away, yet their presence could be felt in the Bay Area. Other places, such as Salem, Oregon, are experiencing similar apocalyptic glows.

The massive plumes of smoke generated by the wildfires raging across California have led to the longest stretch of unhealthy air quality alerts on record in the Bay Area, with 25 straight days of "Spare the Air" alerts, Erin DeMerritt, Bay Area Air Quality Management District spokesperson, told CNN. The previous record was 14 consecutive days during the 2018 Camp Fire.

"The smoke and ash are acting like nature's version of an Instagram filter," Jones said. "The particles in the air are refracting sunlight similar to the way small air particles do when the sun sets or rises."

About the orange skies: The particles scatter the shorter wavelengths of blue and green, making us unable to see them. The longer wavelengths of red and yellow pass through the bottom, giving us this "haunting" effect, Jones said.

Orange skies covered San Francisco, making Sneha Patil feel like she was on another planet.

"It was surreal," Patil wrote. "It felt like I had woken up to the skies in Mars!"

See scenes from the ground:

RELATED

In photos: Wildfires burning in the West

Hundreds of homes in Oregon are gone as growing wildfires, fueled in part by strong winds, "substantially destroyed" sections of several communities, Gov. Kate Brown said Wednesday.

Officials continue to call for mass evacuations.

"We are not getting any relief from the weather conditions," Brown said. "Winds continue to feed these fires and push them into our towns and cities."

Fires are burning in Washington state, too. The Sumner Grade Fire burned several homes and prompted hundreds of evacuations, CNN affiliate KOMO reported. On Wednesday, it was about 20% contained, the news station reported.

"In Western Washington, the old rule of thumb used to be if it was 20% you got out of the way because you were expecting erratic fire behavior," East Pierce Fire Chief Bud Backer said, according to the station. "But with homes in the way, we didn't have that luxury."

Backer says he was there when the fire exploded Monday, the affiliate said.

"When it hit, it was like a blow torch,"

In a Twitter post, Gov. Jay Inslee said the fire chief said he hadn't seen a fire explode like this one "in his 33 years of service."

California fire officials say that while firefighters get closer to containing some of the blazes, several new fires ignited Wednesday and are being fanned by strong winds. More than 14,000 firefighters are battling nearly 30 fires in the state, Cal Fire said.

The Creek Fire, that has destroyed about 360 structures in Central California, has now grown to more than 166,000 acres and remains 0% contained, fire officials said.

Authorities say they'll now be using new technology aboard their aircrafts to help them look for people who may still be out in the mountains and safely escort them out, Fresno County Sheriff's Deputy Lieutenant Brandon Pursell announced Wednesday.

There have already been hundreds of rescues from the flames. About 385 people and 27 animals were airlifted by helicopter in the past several days after getting trapped by the fire in the Sierra National Forest, Col. David Hall told CNN.

At least 30,000 people have been evacuated due to the fire. But the repopulation process is likely to be a long one, Pursell said.

Fire officials issued evacuation orders and warnings across several parts of the state including in Southern California, where the El Dorado Fire continues to burn parts of San Bernardino County and is 18% contained.

In San Diego County, the Valley Fire — which has burned more than 17,000 acres — also prompted several evacuation orders and warnings.

The historic wildfires that are wreaking havoc along the West Coast have claimed the lives of at least 7 people.

The most recent fatality was reported in Jackson County, Oregon yesterday. During a press conference, Jackson County Sheriff Nathan Sickler said they had recovered the body of one person near Ashland where the Almeda fire had started. 

Sickler said there could be additional deaths as many residents in Jackson County refused to evacuate. 

This latest death brings the state death toll to three.  Two people were also killed as a result of the wildfires in Marion County, Oregon, after their bodies were discovered during a search a rescue mission.

Another three people have died in California, and one person has been killed in Washington.