The Flat Fire, a wildfire that has consumed around 3,300 acres in Central Oregon, has led to widespread evacuations and concerns over climate change. Actor Rainn Wilson, known for his role on “The Office,” has been among thousands under evacuation orders from the blaze. The fire was first reported on Aug. 21, and Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek invoked the Emergency Conflagration Act to send more resources to battle the blaze. As of Wednesday, 16 structures have been destroyed and at least two have been damaged. The fire is estimated to cover roughly 23,000 acres and is only 7 percent contained.
Wilson, who has evacuated four times since 2019, cited a 2024 report from the Los Angeles Times as part of the reason for these fires going up and down the West Coast. NASA reports that Earth’s warming climate is fueling wildfire activity, especially in northern and temperate forests. A 2024 study published in Nature determined that worldwide, extreme wildfire activity has more than doubled. NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites detect active wildfires twice each day, and scientists studied this data over a 21-year span and found that extreme wildfires have become more frequent, more intense, and larger.
For Wilson, undergoing four wildfire evacuations has been “difficult and strenuous.” He called for limits on carbon dioxide emissions to mitigate the effects of climate change and called for the limit of CO2 and other heat-trapping gases, plant trees, and create clean air. The cause of the Flat Fire burning in Oregon has not been determined.
