SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- U.S. state of Oregon governor Kate Brown said on Friday that over 1 million acres have burned in the state and first responders are dealing with reports that dozens of people are reported missing in Jackson, Lane and Marion counties.
She also clarified that the assertion that 500,000 people have had to evacuate because of wildfires was inaccurate.
According to Brown, the half-million figure applies to people in households under any kind of evacuation order, including the mildest Level 1 rating.
Fewer than 100,000 Oregonians have been told to evacuate their homes, she said.
The state said in a news release Thursday night that "estimated 500,000 Oregonians have been evacuated and that number continues to grow."
Doug Grafe, chief of fire protection at the Oregon Department of Forestry, said that firefighting teams are battling 16 large fires.
"We have not seen the likes of this fire ... in our state ever before," he was quoted as saying in a report by OregonLive.
According to Grafe, eight of the state's big fires might continue burning "until the winter rains fall." Enditem
