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Confusion and agony in harrowing search for family lost among raging Oregon wildfires

search and rescue personnel from the Jackson County Sheriff's Office look for the possible remains of a missing elderly resident 
search and rescue personnel from the Jackson County Sheriff's Office look for the possible remains of a missing elderly resident

As flames raged around him Chris Tofte drove into the heart of the Oregon wildfire desperately searching for his wife, son and mother-in-law.

Unable to see for the smoke he almost ran over a badly burned woman stumbling in the road, her clothes and shoes melted off, her face and hair scorched.

Stopping, he hurried the victim into his Jeep, saying she must come with him deeper into the blaze to find his son and wife Angie.

"I am your wife," the woman said through blackened lips. After 24 years of marriage he hadn't recognised her.

Their 13-year-old son was later found dead sheltering in a car near their home with the body of the family dog in his arms.

The harrowing story of the Tofte family was reported by the Salem Statesman Journal.

Wyatt Tofte, a victim of the Oregon wildfires, was found with his dog Duke in his lap
Wyatt Tofte, a victim of the Oregon wildfires, was found with his dog Duke in his lap

It has come to symbolise the anguish faced by victims of the record-breaking fires devastating vast areas of Oregon, California and Washington state.

Chris and Angie Tofte lived half an hour's drive from Salem with their son Wyatt, her mother Peggy Mosso, 71, a 200lb Bullmastiff called Duke, and three cats.

They had not been told to evacuate but Mr Tofte decided to go collect a trailer in case they needed to move their possessions to safety.

When he returned the next day the road back to their home was blockaded by police. The fire had swept through.

After finding his wife Mr Tofte rushed her back to paramedics at the blockade, then went back into the inferno to look for Wyatt.

His wife, in agonising pain, told him: "Don't come back until you find him."

Wyatt was eventually discovered dead in a burned out car outside the Toftes destroyed house, with Duke and his beloved grandmother, who also died.

It appeared the family had woken up in the morning to find their home on fire.

Mrs Tofye told her son to run with Duke down a hill to safety.

She stayed to look after her mother, who was immobile having broken her knee.

As the flames closed in Mrs Tofte made the agonising decision to leave her mother behind, and walked three miles out through the flames. She is in a critical condition in hospital.

fire - Getty
fire - Getty

Lonnie Bertalotto, Wyatt’s uncle, said: "We believe Wyatt was running down the hill, and came back to get his grandma."

In a statement the family said: "Our family is devastated by the loss of our kind-hearted 13-year-old Wyatt and his beloved grandmother Peggy. Wyatt, just the sweetest little boy."

The death toll from the fires which have burned almost five million acres in California, Oregon and Washington stands at 31 and is expected to rise sharply.

Oregon's emergency management director said thousands of homes had been destroyed and it was preparing for a possible "mass fatality event".

Half a million people in the state remained under evacuation alert.

After four days of treacherously hot, windy weather, a glimmer of hope arrived with calmer winds blowing in from the ocean, helping firefighters make headway against the blazes.

President Donald Trump will visit California on Monday for a briefing on the West Coast fires, the White House announced.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and the governors of California, Oregon and Washington state - all Democrats - have said the fires are a consequence of global warming.

"We absolutely must act now to avoid a future defined by an unending barrage of tragedies like the one American families are enduring across the West today," Mr Biden said.

Gavin Newsom, the California governor, visiting a charred mountainside, said: "This is a climate damn emergency. The debate is over around climate change.

"Just come to the state of California. Observe it with your own eyes. California, folks, is America fast forward."