Pacific Power, part of PacifiCorp, says it has agreed to a nearly $180 million settlement with over 400 Oregon plaintiffs.

Kate Brown said Friday that dozens of people were still missing and tens of thousands had been forced to flee their homes. Oregon officials haven’t released an exact death count but at least eight fatalities have been reported. Hundreds of firefighters were battling two large blazes that threatened to merge near the most populated part of Oregon, including the suburbs of Portland. Authorities also announced that a man had been arrested on two counts of arson in connection with a fire in southern Oregon. Jackson County Sheriff Nathan Sickler said a 41-year-old man was jailed on two charges of arson for a fire that started Tuesday in the Phoenix area in southern Oregon.

This photo taken by Talent, Ore., resident Kevin Jantzer shows the destruction of his hometown as wildfires ravaged the central Oregon town near Medford late Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020. Fearing for his life, he drove his car to the entrance of a nearby mobile home park, where his tires began melting. Oregon officials haven’t released an exact death count for the wildfires but at least four fatalities have been reported in the state. Oregon officials were shocked by the number of simultaneous fires, which stood at 37 Thursday, according to the state Office of Emergency Management. AP freelance photographer Paula Bronstein also contributed to this report from Talent and Phoenix, Oregon.

“Remember when we said to follow official sources only,” the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office in Oregon posted. Kate Brown said the state could see the greatest loss of life and property from wildfires in its history. The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office told the AP that no such reports existed. Reached by phone, Romero blamed the surge in fires statewide on a coordinated “army of arsonists” but offered no evidence to support that claim. And so people ought to consider: ‘Does this even make sense?’ They should question anything they see in a social media setting.”