Security officials survey the Bear Lakes Estates neighborhood which was left devastated by the Almeda fire in Phoenix, Oregon September 9, 2020. — Reuters pic taken with a drone
More bodies are expected to be discovered as search teams comb through the wreckage of dwellings that were engulfed during a chaotic evacuation of populated areas along the path of the swiftly spreading flames, Ashland police chief Tighe O'Meara said. The flames, driven by high winds, did relatively little damage to Ashland but quickly spread out of town and into neighboring communities along Bear Creek before roaring through the adjacent towns of Talent and Phoenix toward Medford, a city of 82,000 residents, O'Meara said.
“Every fire is investigated for the possibility of arson so that we can either determine it is or rule it out,” he said.