快速蔓延的野火摧毁了华盛顿州东部80%的小镇

快速蔓延的野火摧毁了华盛顿州东部80%的小镇

In this photo from the Whitman County Sheriff's Office, little remains of a building in Malden, Wash. A fast-moving wildfire destroyed 80% of the town on Labor Day.

在这张惠特曼县警长办公室的照片中，华盛顿州莫尔登的一栋建筑几乎没有什么遗迹。一场快速蔓延的野火在劳动节摧毁了80%的城镇。

Almost every structure in the small farming town of Malden in eastern Washington state was destroyed by a fast-moving fire Monday as high winds created what officials described as a firestorm.

周一，华盛顿州东部小镇莫尔登的几乎所有建筑都被快速移动的大火摧毁，强风引发了大火，官员们称之为大火风暴。

According to the Whitman County Sheriff's Office, 80% of the town's structures were destroyed. The town of about 200 people is 35 miles south of Spokane in an agricultural region known as the Palouse.

据惠特曼县警长办公室称，该镇80%的建筑被毁。这个大约有200人的小镇位于斯波坎以南35英里处的农业区帕卢斯。

"The scale of this disaster really can't be expressed in words," said Whitman County Sheriff Brett Myers in a statement. "The fire will be extinguished but a community has been changed for a lifetime. I just hope we don't find the fire took more than homes and buildings. I pray everyone got out in time."

惠特曼县警长布雷特·迈尔斯在一份声明中说:“这场灾难的规模实在无法用言语表达。”“大火将被扑灭，但一个社区已经改变了一生。我只希望大火不会摧毁更多的房屋和建筑。我祈祷每个人都能及时出来。”

As of early Tuesday there were no reports of injuries from the fire in Malden.

截至周二凌晨，还没有莫尔登火灾造成人员伤亡的报告。

Officials say the fire was fueled by high winds up to 45 mph, standing timber and dry fields. Deputies went door-to-door and used PA systems on their patrol vehicles to tell residents to evacuate immediately. Within hours, most of the small town had burned to the ground.

官员们表示，高达每小时45英里的大风、树木和干燥的土地助长了大火。警员们挨家挨户地通过巡逻车上的扩音系统通知居民立即撤离。几个小时内，这个小镇的大部分都被夷为平地。

Malden lost its fire station, post office, city hall, library and most of its homes, according to the sheriff's office.

据警长办公室称，莫尔登失去了消防站、邮局、市政厅、图书馆和大部分房屋。

Myers said he believed all residents in the area had safely evacuated but couldn't be sure, according to The Spokesman-Review.

迈尔斯说，他相信该地区的所有居民都已安全撤离，但不能确定，根据发言人的评论。

"The fire was too hot and too quick to even get a count," Myers said.

迈尔斯说:“火势太大，甚至无法进行计数。”

Malden was not alone in seeing catastrophe on Labor Day — a day Washington Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz described as heartbreaking and surreal, due to the intensity of wildfires and the speed with which they spread.

莫尔登并不是唯一一个在劳动节看到灾难的人。华盛顿公共土地专员希拉里·弗朗茨称，由于森林大火的强度和蔓延速度，劳动节是一个令人心碎和超现实的日子。

"Today alone, almost 300,000 acres in Washington have burned," Franz said via social media channels. "Thousands of homes are without power. Many families have had to evacuate their homes and many homes have been lost."

弗朗茨通过社交媒体渠道说:“仅今天一天，华盛顿就有近30万英亩土地被烧毁。”“成千上万的家庭断电。许多家庭不得不撤离家园，许多家园已经失去。”

"At least 80 fires started in Washington in what officials call a historic fire event," as Spokane Public Radio reports.

据斯波坎公共广播电台报道，“华盛顿发生了至少80起火灾，官方称这是历史性的火灾事件。”

They're still taking stock in Whitman County, where the local emergency management agency, the sheriff's office and fire officials planned to inventory buildings and attempt to contact and account for all residents on Tuesday.

他们仍在评估惠特曼县的情况，当地紧急事务管理机构、警长办公室和消防官员计划在周二清点建筑物，并试图联系和清点所有居民的情况。