Weather Improved But Western Fires Still Rage; Death Toll Rising

It's not as windy as it was along the West Coast as it was earlier in the week, but wildfires rage on nonetheless, as they are too big to contain without at least days, if not weeks of work.

The death toll from the mega fires has reached 14, and that is sure to rise.  It has been unsafe to search areas where fires raced through over the past few days, and it seems not everybody made it out in time across parts of California, Oregon and Washington. The fires were just too intense and too fast for some. 

One of the western forest fires. Authorities are
only now beginning to search fire zones for
casualties. Also, conspiracy theorists spreading
rumors are making emergency workers'
jobs harder.

One example of the reach and extent of these fires is this stat from Oregon:  Half a million people have fled fires in that state. That's more than 10 percent of the state's population. 

The wildfire smoke continues to choke the West Coast and it's going to last.  Strong east winds pushed the smoke through big coastal or near coastal cities like San Francisco, Seattle and Portland.  The wind has shifted, and all that smoke that was pushed out into the air above the Pacific Ocean is now coming back on shore. 

The city of Portland has declared a state of emergency, since many of the city's firefighters have left to fight blazes elsewhere. The air is unhealthy due to the smoke, and new fires could break out in and around Portland since it's so dry there. 

A brief change in the weather pattern might bring a little rain to the Pacific Northwest next week, but then it will probably go back to warm and dry again. Any rain that does fall next week won't be enough to help much. 

In California, at least 2,000 structures, including homes, have been destroyed.  Oroville, population 19,000 is threatened.  At least one small town in the area, Berry Creek, population about 500, was pretty much destroyed. Evacuation zones sadly include part of the town of Paradise, which was largely wiped out by that now famous 2018 wildfire, the deadliest in California history  

Another dismaying thing about the fires is a sad reflection of our society at large:  There's lots of false rumors about the fires, which is normal, I guess. What's not normal is the huge amount of people who are buying these false narratives hook, line and sinker. 

PT Barnum allegedly always said there's a sucker born every minute. I just didn't realize there were that many suckers. 

For the record: Neither the left wing Antifa nor the right wing Proud Boys are setting fires in the West. The government is not using secret weapons to start fires in turn to sow panic.  

One popular Facebook page falsely states that federal agents are investigating fires as a "coordinated attack" by Antifa.  Law enforcement agencies stress this report is absolutely false. I'm not naming the publication because I don't want to call even more attention to them. 

There is one large fire in Oregon that was likely started by an arsonist, but police said the leads they are following all point away from any political motivation with this crime. 

According to USA Today:

The Douglas County Sheriff's Office posted a plea on its Facebook that community members stop spreading rumors about antifa.

'Rumor spread just like wildfire and now our 911 dispatchers and professional staff are being overrun with requests for information and inquiries on an UTRUE rumor that 6 Antifa members have been arrested for setting fires in DOUGLAS COUNTY, OREGON,' its post read. 'THIS IS NOT TRUE!'"

 Many of the fires are likely human caused, but were caused not by individuals with an agenda, but by stupid, careless people with their discarded cigarettes, abandoned camp fires and such. Many fires started from power lines downed by high winds. 

Latching on to false conspiracy theories takes resources away from authorities who need to focus on fighting the fires and preventing new ones. So stop it!