CALIFORNIA’S WILDFIRE SEASON 2020 COULD BE RECORD BREAKING! Todays California

As of August 28, 2020, a total of 7,175 fires have burned 1,660,332 acres (671,913 ha), making this the second-largest wildfire season in California history, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The 2020 California wildfire season is a series of ongoing wildfires that are burning across the state of California.

The peak of the wildfire season usually occurs between August and November when hot, dry winds are most frequent.

As of August 28, 2020, a total of 7,175 fires have burned 1,660,332 acres (671,913 ha), making this the second-largest wildfire season in California history, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The wildfire season typically does not end until the first significant rainstorm of winter arrives, which is usually around October in Northern California, and roughly between late October to December in Southern California.

“This fire season will actually go into the record books,” says Daniel Berlant, Asst. Deputy Director for Cal Fire.

Berlant, addressing the loss, “The tragic loss last night is a reminder of the inherent dangerous job firefighting is and you know it’s just … ”

This fire season could eclipse the worst in California’s history: 2018, when nearly 1.9 million acres burned.

We’re a month away from our potentially worstp fire season in California when hot Santa Ana Winds make conditions arrive.

“To already have over 1.5 million acres burned across California, to already have over 3,000 structures destroyed, to already have 8 people have died from these fires, you know it is not the sign that we want to see and hopefully that is not a sign of what is to come,” says Berlant.

The National Interagency Fire Center collects data, forms prediction models through intelligence to make sure firefighting resources are prepared and ready for fires on a national level. Their Preparedness Levels range from one to five. We are now at a five.

“It’s looking like a busy couple of months even though we should be typically heading out of fire season … keep an eye on California, that’s going to be a problem spot,” says the NIFC in a report.

“We have continued to see year round firefighting conditions on average our fire seasons are several months longer than they were before, but really December and January and February we are seeing fires in what would traditionally be winter months,” says Berlant.

“Our firefighters have now been working weeks straight, going fire to fire to fire … we’re going to make sure that our firefighters have an opportunity to get a couple days off because we still have many more months that we need them,” says Berlant.

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