(Riya Singh, Intern Journalist): Spreading from Washington state to Southern California, wildfires raging across parts of the US West Coast have taken at least eight lives while mandatory level three evacuation orders expand in many places along the coast. Greta Thunberg, Sweden’s teen climate activist, appealed to social media users’ on Instagram to pay attention to the wildfires as they doubled in size between Wednesday and Thursday.
More than 1,000sq km have burned in California alone over the last 24 hours and the huge wildfires are forcing firefighters in some states to retreat. Taking to her Instagram handle, Greta shared a picture of San Francisco, where the smoke and ash in the atmosphere turned the sky and landscape into an apocalyptic orange.
Since strong winds and high temperatures are fuelling nearly 100 fires, California, Oregon, and Washington state are the worst hit. Five towns in central Oregon are already destroyed and authorities are not sure if all the residents of Malden town in Washington state made it out alive. The significant damage and devastating consequences have led to the greatest loss of human life and property in recent years due to the wildfires.