2020 US West Coast Wildfires

Submission 6,876

Part of a series on California Wildfires. [View Related Entries]

Overview

2020 West Coast Wildfires refers to several major wildfires that occurred in the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and California in August and September 2020. In September 2020, photographs of red-tinted sky taken in Oregon and California received viral spread online, with users drawing humorous comparisons and making memes.

Background

During the month of August 2020, major wildfires were reported in the states of Colorado,^[1] Oregon^[2] and California.^[3] On August 19th, 2020, Oregon's governor Kate Brown declared a state of emergency for the imminent threat of wildfires in the state. In September 2020, the severity of fires increased across the West Coast states, with major wildfires taking place in the states of Washington, Oregon, California and Idaho (September 9th, 2020, wildfire map shown below).

As of September 10th, seven human casualties were reported, with hundreds of people forced out of their homes.^[4]

Online Reactions

Starting in early September, multiple users on Twitter, Facebook and other platforms posted photographs of the red-tinted sky taken in various locations in California, Oregon and other states, with many such posts becoming viral. For example, a collection of photographs posted on September 8th by Twitter^[5] user @UglyBoyJ2 received over 9,900 retweets and 30,600 likes (shown below, left). A photograph of a parked UPS truck taken in Salem by Twitter^[6] user @odie1kenodi received over 48,400 retweets and 206,300 likes (shown below, right).

Following the viral spread of the photographs of red- and orange-tinted landscapes, users posted based on the photographs and drew various comparisons to popular culture, particularly to the 2017 film Blade Runner 2049. For example, on September 9th, 2020, Twitter^[7] user @anaisisdrawing posted a photograph of Bay Area landscape taken on that day together with a still image from Blade Runner 2049, with the tweet gaining over 5,800 retweets and 21,600 likes (shown below, left). On the same day, Twitter^[8] user @pettycommajared posted a photograph of This Is Fine plush toy set against the sky in San Francisco, with the post gaining over 22,900 retweets and 116,200 views.

Gender Reveal Wildfire

Gender Reveal Wildfire refers to a California wildfire started by a pyrotechnic device at a gender reveal party which burned over 8,600 acres. After news of the fire's source spread online, people made jokes by showing various disastrous or deadly scenarios reimagined as if they were gender reveals, often featuring the caption It's A Boy!