Raging Wildfires

In October, more than a dozen large wildfires burned across California, causing dozens of schools to close. Tens of thousands of people fled their homes, many of which were destroyed in the fires. The blazes caused the deaths of at least 40 people, making this one of the deadliest wildfire seasons in U.S. history.

The fires began on October 8 and spread quickly. In the first 48 hours, the blazes consumed more than 100,000 acres of land—an area about four times larger than San Francisco, California. High winds made the fires difficult to contain, and many people had little to no warning before disaster struck. Two days after the fires began, President Donald Trump declared the affected areas a federal disaster zone, freeing up government funds.

Conditions made wildfires particularly likely this year, says Daniel Berlant, assistant deputy director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. “We saw a lot of plant growth over a very wet winter,” he says. “But a summer drought killed much of that growth, providing fuel for the fires.”