Wildfires destroy US west coast as half a million evacuate Oregon

Around half a million people in Oregon evacuated as dozens of extreme, winddriven wildfires scorched US West Coast states on Friday, destroying hundreds of homes and killing at least 16 people, state and local authorities said. Since Monday 11 people have died from fires in California, while four were killed in Oregon and a 1yearold boy died in Washington state, police reported. In Oregon alone the number of people under evacuation orders climbed to some 500, 000 about an eighth of the state s total