More than half a million people in the US state of Oregon are fleeing deadly wildfires that are raging across the Pacific Northwest, authorities say.
Fanned by unusually hot, dry winds, dozens of fires are sweeping the state, and at least one is being treated as suspected arson.
Governor Kate Brown said the exact number of fatalities was not yet known, though at least four were confirmed.
More than 100 wildfires are currently scorching 12 western US states.
The worst affected are Oregon, California and Washington, where entire towns have been destroyed.
Some 4.4 million acres have been razed, according to the National Interagency Fire Center – an area larger than Connecticut and slightly smaller than Wales.
What is the latest in Oregon?
On Thursday evening, the Oregon Office of Emergency Management confirmed the latest evacuation figures, which amount to more than 10% of the state’s 4.2 million population.
Rich Tyler, a spokesman for the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s office, told the New York Times: “When you have a fire that burns through homes and businesses, you have open gas lines that are still spewing out natural gas, and those are burning.”
Governor Kate Brown, a Democrat, told reporters: “We have never seen this amount of uncontained fire across the state… This will not be a one-time event. Unfortunately, it is the bellwether of the future. We’re feeling the acute impacts of climate change.”
Among the evacuees are more than 1,300 mostly female inmates from a prison in Wilsonville which officials say is under threat from two fires that could be about to merge.
The victims in Oregon include a 12-year-old boy and his grandmother, who died in a wildfire near Lyons, 70 miles (110km) south of Portland.
Wyatt Tofte, his dog, and his grandmother Peggy Mosso died in the family car trying to escape the blaze. The child’s mother was severely burnt.
Lonnie Bertalotto, Ms Mosso’s son and Wyatt’s uncle, confirmed the deaths in a Facebook post. “Don’t take anything in life for granted and make the best of everyday,” he wrote.
