- Hundreds of thousands forced to evacuate homes in Oregon
- Ten people killed in California as searchers look for missing
- Opinion: these explosive fires are our climate wakeup call
5.50pm BST
This is Lois Beckett, picking up our live coverage of the fires on the West Coast from our Los Angeles office.
In Washington state, a firefighter posted an exhausted update last night about fighting fires, and having to simultaneously fight the rapid spread of false information claiming that politically-motivated groups have started the fires.
I also want to address an issue that keeps coming up, even from some of the public that we are talking too while working. It is hot, dry, and fire spreads quickly in those conditions. There is nothing to show its Antifa, or Proud Boys setting fires. Wait for information. These get investigated, and YES, fires start for lots of reasons, that most are not nefarious.
[Facebook] is an absolute cesspool of misinformation right now. Especially any of the neighborhood groups you may be in. Please, dont share or spread, unverified, non-news related info. I kindly urge you to wait for the facts. Get your info from official sources, and even though the “news” has made mistakes, does not make every news story “Fake News”.
5.21pm BST
Misinformation about the source of the wildfires raging across the Pacific north-west is spreading rapidly on social media, prompting public officials to plead with the public to stop sharing rumors.
Many of the rumors claim without evidence that the fires were lit by political activists, either by the far-right group the Proud Boys or the leftist activists known as antifa.
