Dozens of wildfires have burned over tens of thousands of acres in California leaving charred remains and prompting the evacuation of entire communities, according to The New York Times. The fires that are constantly engulfing California drylands are part of a regional phenomenon of severe drought and heat that has gripped the west coast of America.
Various news sources, including The New York Times, CNN and Business Insider have listed the latest statistics on what is happening with the California wildfires:
California is now in it’s fourth year of drought and reportedly the worst drought in the last 1,200 years. This has turned much of the state into what Gov. Jerry Brown described as a “tinderbox,” according to The New York Times.
“We’re literally a desert right now,” said Edwin Dyer, a freshman from Orange County, California studying biology. “It makes the state so vulnerable. One time a car started a fire on the side of a mountain and set a big chunk on fire.”
There have been thousands of lightning strikes in the past few weeks alone that have sparked fires on drought-parched land, California emergency officials have reported.
The fires have sprung up in 15 counties in California and charred over 180,000 acres, compared with about 87,600 acres in the same period in 2014, according to the Business Insider.
“Last year a huge fire near San Clemente closed down the streets and evacuated some families,” said Mikaela Lawless, a freshman from Dana Point, California studying business. “It’s common to be evacuated during a fire,” Lawless also added.
There are 19 active wildfires burning in California as of Aug. 6, 2015, according to the California Statewide Fire Summary published on the Cal Fire government website.
Nearly 11,000 firefighters are on duty trying to extinguish and contain the wildfires, the Fire Summary also reported. “Within my stake and local ward back home we have many firefighters,” said VeLora Huntsman, a freshman from San Diego, California studying marine biology. “It’s really comforting.”
The largest wildfire, nicknamed the Rocky Fire, encompasses three counties: Yolo, Lake and Colusa. It has spread approximately 69,600 acres and is only 40 percent contained, the California Statewide Fire Summary also included.
The Rocky Fire has led to the evacuation of over 13,000 people, according to CNN. “During one fire about a year ago my house almost burned down,” said Tanya Taotafa, an undeclared freshman from San Diego, California. “We’re used to evacuating multiple times during the year because of the fires.”
About $71 million have been spent so far on firefighting since July 1. The total 2014 figure was estimated at $432 million, the New York Times reported.