Oregon officials press White House, Congress for wildfire aid

State and federal politicians from Oregon are calling on the Trump administration and Congress to provide funds for battling wildfires ravaging the state.

Some of the elected officials also urged Congress to change how the federal government doles out wildfire aid in the West.

More than a dozen wildfires are raging across western Oregon as of Tuesday, with metro areas home to millions blanketed by ashy air. Officials predict the fires will continue burning for days or weeks, leaving the full extent of their damage still unknown.

All five members of the U.S. House from Oregon -- Democrats Earl Blumenauer, Suzanne Bonamici, Peter DeFazio, Kurt Schrader and Republican Greg Walden -- sent an "urgent request" to congressional leaders, asking them to include wildfire suppression funds in Hurricane Harvey relief legislation.

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden issued a letter to President Trump, asking him to include a "wildfire funding fix" in any disaster aid requests the administration submits to Congress.

"It is long past time to address the ongoing, devastating natural disaster of wildfires raging across western states," Wyden wrote.

Peter Courtney, a Salem Democrat who is president of the state Senate, said Congress should provide disaster relief funds to the West.