PNW on fire--an unprecedented number of fires in the region, rumors of arson circulating

https://gacc.nifc.gov/nwcc/information/firemap.aspx

There's a startling number of fires burning across the Pacific Northwest.  I have lived in this region my whole life and the sheer number of them is disturbing.  Air quality is at outright hazardous levels in Eugene, OR, for instance.  Air quality here in Seattle is bad, not officially hazardous but in the very unhealthy to breath it category.

Down in Oregon the fire marshal has resigned and is under investigation for entering an active fire zone without authorization from zone overseer, which is relatively late-breaking news for someone in the Seattle area.



Rumors that antifa arsonists have started the fire seem paranoid.  Given how fast Seattle police cleared the CHAZ/CHOP earlier this year if there were any antifa people there they were too disorganized to put up any functional resistance once law enforcement decided to act.

Why anyone in Oregon who would align with antifa would decide to set fires has to be presumed on the part of conservatives who want to scapegoat them for problems.  My gut take, even as a self-identified moderately conservative type is that antifa are live action role players at doing anything that matters in terms of opposing what they define as fascism and there's nothing about their stated goals that would give them a reason to start fires in Oregon or elsewhere.

I can pray the fires get contained, that as few lives are lost as possible across the region, and that paranoid scapegoating rumors across the board can get nipped in the bud. 

Just because we seem to have had an unprecedented number of fires erupt in Oregon this year doesn't mean it's some conspiracy.  We should look at how to prevent this happening again moving forward but the warming temperatures in the region have to at least be considered (I have had conservationist sympathies pretty much my whole life, not that anyone asked). 

With nearly three dozen fires the possibility that at least one of those was started by an arsonist can be considered but waiting until at least one of the fires is contained would be prudent.  A gender reveal party act of stupidity reportedly caused one fire to break out.  People in this region may recall the kid who set off a firework that created a fire that burned Multnomah Falls a few years ago.  I have found that it's more plausible to believe that fires get caused by stupid people than by fire bugs absent a thorough investigation.

This is more an FYI post.  Since my old home state of birth is basically burning down I am really not likely to get into a back and forth with comments, okay?  I'm not really feeling up to that.  I've lived in this region my whole life and love living here and this is a terrible thing going on that's ravaging the lives of a whole lot of people.  I'm okay where I'm at in Seattle but it's distressing to see how much devastation these fires are spreading throughout the region.