California Wildfires’ Long and Intense Season
Photo Credits: NBC News Noah Berger AP
Although summer is a great time for some families to relax and have a break from their daily routine, this may not be the case for others. The California wildfire season starts around the months of June and July and can last the whole year. However, due to climate change, each year seems to be getting worse especially during fall, according to an NBC news article titled Why California Wildfires Are Particularly Destructive in Fall. The article states that “according to Cal Fire, the four deadliest and most destructive wildfires on record in the state happened in either October or November. November 2018's Camp Fire, which incinerated the town of Paradise, topped both lists with 18,804 structures destroyed and 85 killed. It was the nation's deadliest wildfire since 1918”.
According to Cal Fire’s website, the “Dixie Fire '' has been the longest and most disastrous wildfire of the season, starting on July 13th all through today with constant updates. Affecting the county of Butte, Plumas, Shasta, Tahama, and Lassen; this has burned around 963,309 acres of land, with just 94% containment.With that, many national forest have been temporarily closed, including the Lassen National Forest and National Park Service that’s just 170 miles from the Stockton area. Another devastating wildfire that’s on the outlook by Cal Fire has been the “Fawn Fire” located in the Shasta Trinity-Unit, just 10 miles away from the famous Shasta Lake that has been since closed due to this current event, and 215 miles from the Stockton area. It has since burned 8,578 acres, with 85% of containment, since it was reported that started recently on September 22nd.
This is also a result of California’s summer climate, which is much drier than that of other states. However, one of the surprising main causes of the fires in California is the wind. The Santa Ana Winds (Southern California) or the Diablo Winds (Northern California) start kicking in the month of October and can last up to the month of April. According to the American Meteorological Society, “these winds sometimes gusting over 70 mph can quickly whip up either an existing wildfire or just-developed small brush fire into an inferno, blowing embers downstream and starting many more spot fires, often in heavily populated areas”.
It is also predicted that the “rainy” season in the state might be delayed to later in the fall compared to six decades ago, which makes the wildfire season more intense and longer, according to the aforementioned NBC article. So, if you’re wondering why fall season has not already started and why it still feels like summer, it’s because of climate change and land-use trends.
Lydia Fox, Associate Professor of the Department of Geosciences here at Pacific said another cause for these wildfires have been because of mismanagement. “I can say it’s all part of climate change, and the ages of mismanagement that have led to these crises. There have been several campaigns like Smokey the Bear, but it hasn’t really got that far as we can see. There’s also the fact that we suppressed this for so long, and when it starts to burn, it burns bad.”
Fox also indicated that it is of the utmost importance that we spread the word about climate change and the current events surrounding it “because it is a domino effect, if we lose the trees, we lose our ability to breathe carbon dioxide, and forests can take years and years to regenerate.”
There are also multiple resources that show people how to create an evacuation plan and how to act in case of a fire near your residence. Cal Fire offers Pre-Evacuation Preparation Steps that shows you what to do before, during, and after these fires. Some of the main points are to have an emergency supply kit, have a wildfire action plan with your family members, move flammable furniture to the center of the room, and shut windows and doors while leaving them unlocked in case of an emergency evacuation.
