Wildfires in the Western states of California, Oregon and Washington continued to burn Friday, with millions of acres already scorched. But some relief appeared to be on the way.
In Oregon, a top fire protection official said several of the fires had been “taken off the map,” meaning they could be downgraded.
According to OPB News, at least six major fires continued to burn.
Mother Nature was providing a helping hand with significant rainfall in key areas.
In fact, officials suspended recovery work in the area of one of Oregon’s biggest fires because of heavy rain, The Associated Press reported.
The official death toll in the Oregon fires stood at eight, according to OPB.
In California, a firefighter reportedly died Thursday in the battle against the El Dorado Fire, which was caused by a gender reveal party gone wrong.
However, weather forecasters said cooler temperatures were on the way, according to the Los Angeles Times.
As of Friday, there were more than two dozen fires burning in California, with more than 17,000 firefighters trying to contain them.
At least 24 people have died in the fires.
In Seattle, a blanket of smoke was expected to dissipate as rain moves in.
“The worst is behind us,” Dustin Guy, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Seattle, told the Seattle Times, referring to the smoke. “It’s just a matter of continuing to improve and bringing in cleaner air off the Pacific.”
The wildfires have forced thousands to evacuate along the West Coast, and resulting smoke has sent even those far from the fires to area hospitals.
