Thousands of residents were forced to evacuate as ‘unprecedented’ wildfires, fueled by strong winds and searing temperatures, were raging across a wide swathe of California, Oregon and Washington on Wednesday. The fires have destroyed scores of homes and businesses in the western US states.
In California, where at least eight deaths have been reported, National Guard helicopters rescued hundreds of people trapped by the Creek Fire in the Sierra National Forest. The residents woke up to a smoke filled sky.

Law enforcement and fire personnel wait on the Enterprise Bridge to enter an area encroached by fire in unincorporated Butte County, in Oroville, California on Wednesday.
More than 300,000 acres are burning across the northwestern state including 35 major wildfires, with at least five towns “substantially destroyed” and mass evacuations taking place.
Cars drive along the San Francisco Bay Bridge under an orange smoke filled sky at midday in San Francisco, California on Wednesday.
In California, at least eight deaths have been reported due to wildfire.