California fires continue spreading as officials deal with a ‘mass fatality incident’

By Spencer Neale

Published September 12, 2020 2:22pm ET

California fires continue spreading as officials deal with a ‘mass fatality incident’ — A burned bus sits in an area struck by the King Fire near Icehouse in El Dorado County, Calif. on Friday, Sept. 19, 2014. Heavy rains this week and the prospect of more wet weather over the weekend are raising hopes that firefighters will get full containment quickly on the massive wildfire in a heavily forested region of the Sierra east of Sacramento. (AP Photo/The Sacramento Bee, Randall Benton) | Randall Benton

Historic wildfires from California to Washington are pushing first responders to the limit as they race to subdue the flames.

Hundreds of homes have been destroyed and more than 20 people are dead as officials from California to Washington grapple with out-of-control wildfires. During a Friday afternoon press conference, Director of the Oregon Office of Emergency Management Andrew Phelps said that the state was “preparing for a mass fatality incident.”