As we slip into August, we enter peak fire season in the state of California. During the months between July and November, hot, dry, winds are very frequent. After the devastating 2020 fire season - California’s worst fire season in history-, people have been apprehensive about the 2021 fire season.

What makes California so susceptible to fires though? First of all, California has been facing two years of harsh drought. Soils as well as vegetation are dry, and therefore more prone to combustion. With a dry state + hot winds, any spark will erupt into a fire. And with climate change increasing temperatures, areas will increasingly become more dry.

People are right to be concerned during fire season. Currently, the Dixie Fire is raging across Northern California, and is the largest active wildfire in the US. The fire has grown to 500,000 acres, and has been burning for a month. It is currently 31% contained. The status of the fire (along with lots of info) is being posted on Cal Fire (https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2021/7/14/dixie-fire/), if you want to check it out! 

Thousands of residents in the area have been evacuated, but many have sadly lost their homes. Almost 6,000 firefighters are on assignment to fight the fire, but it has been predicted that the fire will not be contained until August 20. 

In the future, we hope that we can reduce the trend of increasing devastation during the yearly fire season. We can boost our forest management, be more careful with fires & firework celebrations when camping out in our forests (9 out of 10 wildfires are caused by humans!), and incorporate more fire-resistant materials in the design of buildings.

References used:

https://www.kqed.org/science/1975814/a-punishing-california-fire-season-is-here-fueled-by-historic-drought

https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2021/7/14/dixie-fire/

https://www.nytimes.com/article/why-does-california-have-wildfires.html

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/10/weather/dixie-wildfire-tuesday/index.html

https://www.doi.gov/blog/10-tips-prevent-wildfires

https://www.c2es.org/content/wildfires-and-climate-change/