As Oregon fires burn, smoggy air suffocates Portland residents

The deadly fires are causing record-breaking pollution and a spate of health woes

Last updated: September 16, 2020 | 08:00

AFP and Compiled by Christian Borbon, Senior Web Editor

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The deadly fires spreading across three western US states are causing record-breaking pollution and a spate of health woes, from headaches and coughs to impaired vision, that have residents worried about the long-term consequences.

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Portland, the largest city in Oregon, has been blanketed for days by a dense smog that has sent pollution meters soaring.

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The foul air is a nightmare for local businesses which, after months of stay-at-home orders due to the coronavirus crisis, are now struggling to get customers through the doors when many just want to stay home.

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A person sits on a mattress in downtown Portland, Oregon where air quality due to smoke from wildfires was measured to be amongst the worst in the world.

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The coronavirus pandemic plus the unhealthy air quality have emptied the streets and put enormous pressure on businesses.

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A man walks along the banks of the Williamette River in downtown Portland, Oregon where air quality due to smoke from wildfires was measured to be amongst the worst in the world.

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Cows are grazing surrounded by thick smoke from wildfires near Oregon City. Dense smog from US wildfires have burnt nearly five million acres

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A truck drives on a road shrouded in smoke and fog in Sublimity, Oregon.

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A local resident helping to put out hotspots and cut fire roads walks down a smoky road with a shovel over his shoulders, in Molalla, Oregon.

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A man crosses a street shrouded in smoke and fog in downtown Portland.

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A barn shrouded in smoke in Molalla, Oregon, which has been evacuated due to the Riverside Fire.

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Horses graze in a smoke and fog shrouded field in Sublimity, Oregon near the east edge of the Beachie Creek Fire.

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