Welcome to California wildfire season
It’s only May, and I’m already having to write about wildfires forcing Californians to evacuate their homes. Around 1,000 people were displaced from their homes Sunday as the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles County grew to more than 1,300 acres. The blaze, which was 0% contained as of Sunday afternoon, carved a path through dense, old-growth chaparral that hadn’t burned in more than 50 years, the Los Angeles Times reports. As such, it embodied both California’s worsening drought and the grim reality that its fire season is starting earlier and earlier even as its conflagrations get larger and larger.
Related articles:
- Mother Jones: California Is Headed Toward Another Brutal Wildfire Season
- ABC10 News: San Diego preparing for fire season as drought conditions worsen
- Press Democrat: History of North Bay wildfires shadows another ominous year in drought-parched region
- SJV Water: Drought reduces runoff from watersheds burned by wildfires