Show an ad over header. AMP

In photos: West Coast faces dense smoke and strong winds as historic wildfires rage

14 September 2020
Dan Ackermann

The death toll from the mega-wildfires ravaging the U.S. West Coast has risen to 35, but most of the dozens of people reported missing from a massive blaze in southern Oregon have been found, per AP.

The big picture: Red flag warnings were in place from southern Oregon to Northern California Monday evening amid hot dry conditions. Smoke in Oregon, California and Washington is producing hazardous air quality in the states. The arrival of strong winds Sunday raised hopes of the air clearing and concerns that the blazes may spread. A record 3.1 million acres has burned in California this year, and the fires have razed hundreds of thousands of acres in Oregon and Washington.

Oregon

Homeowners survey their property in a neighborhood destroyed by wildfire on in Talent on Sept. 13. Photo: David Ryder/Getty Images
The charred remains from the Beachie Creek Fire near the destroyed Oregon Department of Forestry, North Cascade District Office in Lyons on Sept. 13. Photo: Rob Schumacher/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
A woman drops off donations for residents evacuated from the Riverside Fire at the Clackamas County Fairgrounds in Canby Sept. 13. Photo: Robyn Bec/AFP via Getty Images
A resident who's been helping to put out hotspots in Molalla on Sept. 13. Photo: Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

Incident Commander for the Almeda Fire, Scott Magers, got to visit with K9 Officer Simon today. Officer Simon works as a...

Posted by Almeda and Obenchain Fire Information on Sunday, September 13, 2020

California

Firefighters on Sept. 13 keep an eye on the Bobcat Fire as it burns on a hillside behind homes in Arcadia. Photo: Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images
Propane gas burns at a home destroyed in the North Complex fire on Sept. 11 in Berry. Photo: Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

The #BobcatFire is now 33,312 acres with 6% containment. Due to increased fire activity, crews conducted strategic firing operations around Chantry Flat to the south on Santa Anita Canyon Road. Firefighters were successful in containing spot fires near Buckhorn Flat and HWY 2. pic.twitter.com/l9kVSAWQeM

— Angeles_NF (@Angeles_NF) September 14, 2020

#ElDoradoFire Update

Acres: 14,283
Containment: 44%
Personnel: 1,319
Injuries: 10
Evacuated: 7,236
Homes damaged: 2
Homes destroyed: 4
Outbuildings damaged: 4
Outbuildings destroyed: 6

More: https://t.co/GQgLVT8nlq@SBCOUNTYFIRE@CALFIREBDU@CHP_San_Berdoo@sbcountysheriffpic.twitter.com/kePABSKYIq

— San Bernardino National Forest (@SanBernardinoNF) September 14, 2020

Washington

As another day of challenging firefighting begins, crews are confronting 35 large #wildfires burning 1,626,821 acres across Oregon & Washington with:

—8,527 Fire personnel
—208 Crews
—606 Engines
—65 Helicopters

Please be safe out there! pic.twitter.com/JE3g39WyOY

— Forest Service NW (@ForestServiceNW) September 13, 2020
A seagull flies past cranes on Harbor Island as smoke from wildfires fills the air on Sept. 12 in Seattle, Washington. Photo: Lindsey Wasson/Getty Images
Smoke from wildfires obscure the Space Needle and the Seattle skyline on Sept. 12 in Seattle, Washington. Photo: Lindsey Wasson/Getty Images

Here are nearly 4 days worth of satellite images showing the journey of the smoke. Initially, it was pulled over the ocean by offshore flow. It was then caught up by westerly winds and pushed back onshore. An incoming system is now gradually pushing it to our east. #wawxpic.twitter.com/10F84yE1xp

— NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) September 13, 2020

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

Section2

Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.