California and Other Western Wildfires

California and Other Western Wildfires — page 3 — francisco eureka redding san san Jose Las vegas california bakersfield los angeles Fire Sweeps Through It was the most destructive wildfire season on record in California In 2017 nearly 9,000 wildlands fires ripped through the state killing at least 46 people and burning more than 1 2 million acres 485,623 ha of land The state had no time to heal before record heat waves sparked thousands of new fires in 2018 Fires in red and smoke in California are captured on this satellite image from October 2017 Fires burned as far north as Klamath National Forest on the border of Oregon and as far south as San Diego Deadly Northern Firestorms Firestorm is the term used to describe the fires that took place in northern California In early October fires started within a day of each other in four separate communities of Nuns Tubbs Atlas and Redwood Valley They continued burning for three weeks and became the most destructive wildfires of 2017 and the most expensive in history They caused more than 9 4 billion in damage and the largest loss of life from wildfires in the United States since 1918 4

California and Other Western Wildfires — page 4 — miles casitas vista rd 21 245,000 11,000 100,000 8,900 acres 99,148 ha of land was burned over firefighters fought the fires people were forced to evacuate their homes October Damage In October alone California experienced some of the worst wildfires the state had ever seen Beginning on October 8 2017 firefighters responded to 250 new wildfires major wildfires raged at the height of the disaster buildings were destroyed Southern Wildfires In December 2017 29 wildfires ignited in southern California The largest was in Thomas which is in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties Other fires started in Creek Rye and Skirball People lost their homes and their belongings and will be affected by the disaster for a very long time 5

California and Other Western Wildfires — page 5 — What Is a Wildfire A wildfire is an uncontrolled fire that destroys wildlands or forests and fields in rural areas They can be caused by forces of nature such as lightning or by human activity such as careless smoking An average of 100,000 wildfires happen in the United States each year clearing 4 to 5 million acres 1 6 2 million ha Roughly 9,000 burn in Canada each year Fast Moving A wildfire can move as fast as 14 miles per hour 23 kph and can take just a few minutes to burn everything in its path In less than a minute winds can push a fire the length of a football field Wildfires happen all around the world but are most common in the western United States such as Montana Idaho Wyoming Washington Colorado Oregon and California and in forested or northern areas of Canada California Fire Season California has two fire seasons The Santa Ana season in southern California usually occurs from October through April The summer fire season usually occurs between June and September Summer fires tend to burn more slowly than Santa Ana fires Both fire seasons are dangerous but Santa Ana is better known Santa Ana fires usually occur near the coast and cause the most damage These fires burn very quickly and do the most damage in the first 24 hours They also do about ten times the economic damage 6

California and Other Western Wildfires — page 6 — Sparked by Winds Santa Ana winds are a weather condition named after southern California’s Santa Ana Canyon which they blow through They happen seasonally starting in the fall and blow through winter and spring They are at their strongest during the month of December These winds are very destructive because they can turn already dry chaparral into fuel for wildfires that easily spread The gusts start out as cool air in a dry mountainous region between the Sierra Nevada and Rocky mountains When the cool air begins to sink the air warms up and loses a lot of its moisture This hot dusty air blows across the mountains and valleys of Arizona and southern California toward the Pacific Ocean As the winds travel through the narrow passages between the mountain ranges they speed up These winds reach minimum speeds of 28 miles per hour 45 kph 7

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