in

What to Know About the Wildfires in California

The state has had more than 3,500 wildfires this year, and the peak of the annual fire season has yet to arrive.

Californians are once again thinking about the familiar perils of deadly wildfires as high temperatures and winds have made for an active early fire season.

In recent weeks, more than 3,500 wildfires have erupted across California, the nation’s most populous state, from its northern boundary with Oregon to the Mexican border. Tens of thousands of people have had to flee their homes, including most residents in the city of Oroville last week.

After two relatively calm fire years, Californians fear that the blazes will be more intense this summer and fall, threatening towns and polluting the air with smoke up and down the West Coast. Here’s what to know.

On Friday, the Lake fire started in the grassy hills of the Los Padres National Forest, about 50 miles northwest of Santa Barbara. In mere days, it has burned almost 29,000 acres and has become the state’s largest wildfire so far this year, according to Cal Fire, the state’s firefighting agency.

The fire initially drew attention because it threatened the property formerly known as Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch. Firefighters made early progress controlling the fire line and keeping it away from the ranch and other properties in the hills, but strong winds have continued to push the blaze southeast.

Most of the fire has been in rural, rugged terrain, officials say, and it was 16 percent contained as of Wednesday. But it has still forced about 440 people to evacuate, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, while more than 1,100 are under evacuation warnings.

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.


Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.


Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

Want all of The Times? Subscribe.


Source: Elections - nytimes.com


Tagcloud:

Joe Biden backs closer UK-Europe ties in first offical meeting with Keir Starmer – video

Benji Gregory, Child Star on ‘ALF,’ Dies at 46