California surpasses 1 million acres burned as Line Fire flare up forces new evacuations

California has surpassed the dubious milestone of 1 million acres burned as crews issue new evacuation orders for San Bernardino County residents living near the Line Fire. 

Recently, Cal Fire's resources have been concentrated on several incidents in Southern California. Crews simultaneously fought to contain three infernos: Bridge, Line and Airport Fires. In all of the incidents, crews have created containment lines around most of the perimeters. The Line Fire remains the least controlled with firefighters containing 80% of the blaze. 

While they strained Southern California's resources, the wildfires only accounted for roughly 12% of the number of acres burned throughout the state. 

So far in 2024, firefighters have responded to 6,500 wildfires which have destroyed 1,433 structures and damaged another 254. This year's largest blaze, the Park Fire, burned 429,603 acres and destroyed 709 buildings in Butte and Tehama County near Chico and Paradise. It caused more destruction than all of the fires that happened in 2023. 

While 2023 had nearly 1,000 more wildfires, it was a relatively mild year with 332,822 acres burned. The 2022 fire season recorded similar numbers with nearly 7,500 incidents burning 331,358 acres. 

Compared to the previous two years, 2024 may seem abnormally destructive. However, it falls within Cal Fire's five-year average of 1 million acres burned. 

According to the agency's database, 2020 and 2021 devastated California. Nearly 7 million acres burned and fires destroyed nearly 15,000 structures between the two years. 

The 2020 incidents accounted for roughly 60% of the damages, mainly because of the four complex fires sparking within days of each other. Each of the blazes ranks within the 10 largest fires in California history, with the August Complex topping the list at a little over 1 million acres.