Wildfires Rage Up and Down the West Coast

by Pa Rock
Concerned Grandfather

I pride myself on keeping up with the things that are going on in the world.  Most days I routinely visit a half-dozen or so news sites on the internet, and also ask Alexa multiple times a day to provide me with a news flash.  Generally, I know what's happening - in my town and around the world.

But I was caught flat-footed a couple of days ago when my daughter phoned from Oregon - where she and her family live.  "Dad," she said, "Do you know what's going on out here?"  And no, Dad didn't have a clue.  

Molly, who was phoning from her car, went on to tell about the many wildfires that had broken out in the state over the preceding few days.  She said that she was driving through smoke and ash as we were talking.   (I had a passing knowledge of the wildfires that had been plaguing California, but the fires of Oregon were news to me.)  Molly lives in Salem, the capital of Oregon, and she was on the road heading in the direction of Portland to pick up one of her children from a school that he attends which is located between Salem and Portland.

Molly said that entire communities were being evacuated, and others were being told to get their cars packed and to be ready to flee.  It was a very disturbing phone call.

Later in the day I received an email update talking about the red skies over Oregon.   Photos accompanying the article showed daylight scenes in which the sky was bright red.  The pictures were apocalyptic and as disturbing as Molly's call had been.

I spoke with my thirteen-year-old grandson yesterday afternoon.  Sebastian, a junior businessman, has his briefcase packed and is ready to move out if the alarm is sounded.  He said they are in a Phase 1 area which is no immediate danger, but other relatives in town are in a Phase 2 area and are packed and ready to run.  He also said that his neighborhood is so smokey that they have to be careful about opening the door because that lets the smoke into the house.

Oregon's Governor Kate Brown has asked the federal government for an emergency declaration and assistance in dealing with the catastrophe.  So far more than half-a-million Oregonians have been evacuated from their homes - or roughly ten percent of the state's population.

As of a couple fo hours ago there have fifteen fire-related deaths in the western states:  ten in California, one in Washington, and four in Oregon - of which three were in Marion County where most of Salem is located.  All of those numbers are likely to go much higher.

News sources are crediting lightening strikes and carelessness with igniting the fires, but many of the stories also credit climate change for establishing the conditions that eventually made the fires far more likely to break out and be so devastating.  

But the time for finger-pointing and assigning blame will come later.  Now is the time for planning, and vigilance, and staying well beyond harm's reach.

Be smart, West Coast, and stay safe!