As the devastating wildfires continue to sweep through the western US, tragic and heartbreaking stories of the increasing number of victims are also pouring in.
One man said he found his wife but couldn’t recognize her because of the burn, while their young son was found dead with the family dog.
Chris Tofte recalled the harrowing moment, barely able to hold his emotions in control. Chris says he was telling a woman he was helping on to his car how he was looking for his wife, when the woman whispered to her that she is his wife. Angela is currently in critical condition, fighting for her life.
Their 13 year old son Wyatt and Wyatt’s 71 year old grandmother Peggy Mosso has also perished earlier this week because of the fire. Wyatt was said to be in the car, clutching on to the family dog until the very last moment while Peggy was trying to help her grandson out of the car.
The fires have shown little sign of stopping as 29 people have already died from it. Officials worry that the fatalities may skyrocket as 10% of its population has fled from their homes and two strands of fire threaten to merge and proceed towards the most populous region in the state.
Although the death tolls continue to rise and is likely to rise much more, it does little to mitigate the pain and sorrow of the individual stories from the victims and their loved ones.
Chris said he found Angela in just her underwear with burns all over her body when he was out looking for his son at 4am. He also mentioned how he believes his son must have be crawled into the car in order to escape the fire.
In a statement that has been released to the press, the Tofte family both remembered Angela and Wyatt while thanking the tireless efforts of the state’s firefighters. Although the search result was a tragedy, the family said they were extremely grateful for everyone who helped the search.
In Oregon alone, the fires have burned through countless acres of woods and has sent more than 500,000 residents away from their homes.
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Replaced!