California's slow start to fire season now makes a shift
AUBURN - California's fire season has been off to a slow start this year after a record snowpack, but things have started to shift after multiple heat waves just this month.
Firefighters at Cal Fire's Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit have noticed an increase in fires recently. They said what's different this year compared to last is not the number of fires but the size of them.
"This season is starting to ramp up with the warming weather and drying humidity throughout the upper foothills. Our fuels are starting to dry out and we are starting to get multiple ignitions every day," said Cal Fire Battalion Chief Nolan Hale.
Data from the National Interagency Fire Center shows that this year from January 1 to July 14, there have been 749,994 acres burned throughout the country. Comparing this timeframe to where we were last year, it was much higher with 5,179,043 acres burned between January 1 to July 14, 2022.
Closer to home this year, Cal Fire has reported over 3,000 wildfires as of Monday, with most in Southern California, including the Rabbit Fire, Reche Fire and the Highland Fire.
Although a slow start up north, Hale said they have been lucky to keep most wildfires under 10 acres so far this year. Yet, that will start to change after the record heat.
"The brush is starting to carry and increase in fire activity with our energy release components starting to ramp up due to this excessive heat wave. That's what we are expecting for the next couple of weeks," Hale said.
As activity ramps up, Hale said they are ready to go with a full crew and multiple resources at their unit.
At this point in the summer, Cal Fire is fully staffed for an active fire season.
"Every position from firefighter one to chief officer ranks are filled including all of our pilots [and] dozer operators. We're 100% staffed and ready to go," Hale said.
The concern now at the unit in Auburn is how much more vegetation will dry out in the next few weeks. They are asking others to be cautious.
"As we are drying out and getting hotter, be safe and do your yard work early in the morning. Try not to do any mowing or weeding after 10 o'clock," Hale said. "Recognize the lowering relative humidities throughout the day and through the weeks. Make sure you're fire safe."