Wildfires within the state of Oregon forced 500,000 people out of their homes. As of September 11th, 4 people have been killed by the wildfires. A one-year-old child lost their life to this deadly blaze as it engulfed the Oregon landscape. Oregon’s governor, Kate Brown, stated that 900,000 acres have been scorched by the wildfires. This figure is reportedly double the size of land lost to wildfires in 2019.
Oregon’s governor went on to say that there has not been this much uncontained firing burning across the state. She also linked the vast amount of fires to climate change. The governor believes that the current wildfires in Oregon are going to be the norm due to the effects of the climate. The towns of Phoenix and Talent in Oregon have both been decimated by the fires. Law enforcement officials believe that arson was to blame for some of the fires raging across the state.
Firefighters from Oregon were battling blazes in different regions along the west coast of the U.S. Many had to go back to Oregon to take on the fires that were spreading within their home state. A lot of the firefighters in Oregon had to take a pause with fighting the blaze to let the fires burn. They had to do this to regroup their efforts with stopping the fire. Some of the blazes were becoming too strong and they had no choice but to let them run their course. The fires are expected to keep burning until the fall of the next major rainfall.
