By Melissa Macaya, Meg Wagner, Veronica Rocha and Judson Jones, CNN
From CNN’s Joe Sutton and Jon Passantino
The unprecedented wildfires that continue to cause havoc on the West Coast have claimed the lives of at least eight people.
According to the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office, authorities discovered one fatality Wednesday in the burn area near Happy Camp, California.
The Slater Fire is burning in that area.
From CNN's Cheri Mossburg
A woodsy getaway camp for kids with cancer has been damaged in Northern California.
The Okizu Camp for pediatric cancer patients and their families is yet another casualty of the wildfires scarring California as the Bear Fire, part of the North Complex, burned through the area.
“We are heartbroken to let you know that we were notified today that there has been significant fire damage to our beloved Camp Okizu at Berry Creek,” Executive Director Suzie Randall posted on the organization’s website.
Camp Okizu hosts about 700 kids each year, along with their siblings and parents, giving them a respite from hospitals and doctor appointments. It is not yet clear if anything is left of the camp, which had a large lodge, 32 cabins, an extensive ropes course, and an infirmary to care for campers undergoing chemotherapy or those that might need blood draws.
Board Member Hanna Malak has been visiting the camp since he was eight years old, when his older brother had leukemia.
“There are definitely a lot of memories made there, but the magic of Okizu is the people,” Malak said.
“It is devastating,” Malak said of the destruction. “I think I’m going through the stages of loss and feel like I’m still in denial. It’s still hard to believe, but we are staying positive and are especially thankful no one was hurt.”
The threat of Covid-19 among a population of campers with compromised immune systems has left the camp empty during what would otherwise be a busy summer season.
“Our hearts have been in our throats all day, and we’ve been following every news report, hoping against hope for a miracle,” the organization said in a news release. “There is nothing we can possibly say except that Okizu is a family, and as in any family, it is the people who matter most. We each carry Okizu within us, and that is something no fire can destroy."
From CNN’s Joe Sutton
The wildfires in the West are continuing to rage and burn more acreage.
There are now 102 active large wildfires burning in the US, according to the latest data from the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC).
So far, 4,350,558 acres have now burned from these fires, the NIFC said.
From CNN's Konstantin Toropin
Oregon is "now approaching 900,000 acres burned across the state," Gov. Kate Brown said during today's news conference.
For perspective, Brown noted in the last 10 years, the state sees an average of 500,000 acres burned in an entire year.
"We know there are fire-related fatalities," Brown said.
She said as soon as they could provide “confirmed information” on the fatalities, they would do so.
Brown added that approximately 30,000 to 40,000 Oregonians have evacuated.
From CNN's Stella Chan
More than 3.1 million acres, twice the size of Delaware, have burned in California and 12 people have died as a result of the wildfires ravaging the state, according to a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) news release.
“This year’s fire season has been a record-breaking year, in not only the total amount of acres burned, but six of the top 20 largest wildfires in California history have occurred in 2020,” Cal Fire said.
Fires have destroyed more than 3,900 structures. At least 14,000 firefighters are battling 29 major fires up and down the state.
The August Complex Fire in Tehama County took the top spot in the state’s list of largest wildfires, clocking in at 471,185 acres. It is 24% contained.
At least five of the state’s largest fires are active.
The massive North Complex Fire, an amalgamation of blazes, including the Bear fire, is 247,358 acres and 23% contained. The blaze is ninth in the state’s largest wildfires list. Three people are dead as a result of the fire, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea announced last night, and at least a dozen are missing.
Parts of the city of Oroville are under evacuation orders while a portion of the town of Paradise, ravaged by the devastating 2018 Camp Fire, is under evacuation warnings.
The Creek Fire in Central California has scorched 175,893 acres and continues to burn out of control. The fire destroyed at least 361 structures and threatens over 14,000. The temperature is expected to return to seasonal averages with low humidity today.
The Bobcat Fire in the Angeles National Forest is 23,890 acres and firefighters have no containment. The blaze started Sunday and the cause is still under investigation. L.A. County foothill communities including Pasadena, Duarte, and Monrovia are under an evacuation warning.
The El Dorado Fire, sparked by a gender reveal mishap this weekend, consumed 12,610 acres in San Bernardino County and is 23% contained.
Wildfires are raging across the West Coast, with several of them are burning in Washington state.
Here are the latest updates from the Evergreen State:
From CNN’s Gregory Lemos
The state of Oregon now has 37 active fires and at least 672,806 have burned, according to Oregon Office of Emergency Management Public Information Officer, Paula Negele.
Damage from the fires have gotten so bad, Portland General Electric has stopped providing estimates of power restoration, according to their website.
“Due to the volume of outages, it is difficult for us to accurately estimate a restoration time for each individual home or location. We understand this is frustrating and we appreciate your patience. We’ll update this information as we make our assessments and crews respond to each location,” their website said Thursday.
The state of Oregon had 68,444 households without power as of 1:30 p.m. ET Thursday, according to poweroutage.us.
Wildfires are raging from California to Washington today, creating dangerous conditions and prompting evacuations along the Pacific Coast.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown warned residents that the current blazes could create the "greatest loss of human lives and property due to wildfire in our state's history."
Here's what we know so far about the wildfires in Oregon:
From CNN's Cheri Mossburg
While dozens of wildfires are burning across California, the August Complex Fire — currently raging in Northern California — has become the largest wildfire in state history.
Nearly 500,000 acres have burned in the Mendocino National Forest east of Redding and Chico, an area equal to about 736 square miles.
The August Complex was initially 37 separate fires that ignited from a lightning storm on Aug. 17. Many of those smaller fires merged to create larger complex. Containment is currently estimated at 24%.
Three fires currently burning in the state are in the top five of California’s all-time list:
