Good morning. Now that major news outlets have picked up the story it’s upsetting to see posts claiming the fires in the West are being set deliberately. Let me just lay out some facts about Oregon for those who don’t know. #OregonFires 1/6

Many of the areas threatened by the fires are adjacent to or are “rural” farming communities. So, the explosions you are seeing in videos are likely caused by above ground fuel storage, OR fertilizer storage. 2/6

The fires are in a line because of the geography of the state. They are all in the foothills of the Cascade mountains and if you zoom in on maps you can see that many of the fires originated many many miles away from any major road. 3/6

Yes, some of these fires were likely caused by humans but many were also caused by downed power lines, lightening and stray embers carried from fires that have been burning East of the Cascades for weeks by the extreme winds we experienced earlier in the week. 4/6

Much of OR has been under a Red Flag warning for a week or more. We get wildfires EVERY year, this is not new. What is new is the severity of the blazes. This fire event was kind of a perfect storm of high winds, drought, extreme low humidity and heat. 5/6

It is irresponsible and harmful to subscribe to the idea that people are intentionally running around rural oregon setting fires to gain political clout. Think before you share, I beg of you, rumors can hurt, especially right now with the country so utterly divided. 6/6

Instead of perpetuating harmful rumors here are some articles about how you can help:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.statesmanjournal.com/amp/5756706002

https://www.google.com/amp/s/katu.com/amp/news/local/want-to-donate-to-wildfire-relief-efforts-heres-how-you-can-help

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.kgw.com/amp/article/news/local/help-oregon-and-washington-residents-affected-by-the-wildfires/283-1ffd3c38-e4b7-45a6-b66f-7d418491d88c

Folks responding to this thread with the exact articles and posts that perpetuate the conspiracy theory will be blocked. I don’t have time for your paranoid fear mongering.