Inside Climate News: Supercharged by Climate Change, Western Megafires Explode Simultaneously

[OKIsItJustMe]

4. A number of the Canadian fires "wintered over"

The (so-called) “zombie fires” were never put out last year, and burned their way into the underlying peat (a problem in itself.)

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-07-12/california-wildfires-burn-20-times-as-much-land-as-last-year

‘A fire year’: California wildfires have burned more than 20 times as much land as last year

By Keri Blakinger
Staff Writer
July 12, 2024 3 AM PT

After a wet winter and hot summer, this year’s fire season is off to a fierce start. Here’s the latest to date, including the largest fires burning in California.

So far, more than 3,500 wildfires have eaten up at least 219,247 acres across the state, according to California fire officials. Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated, dozens of structures have been damaged or destroyed, and officials say at least one person has died.

“We are not just in a fire season, but we are in a fire year,” Joe Tyler, the head of Cal Fire, told reporters this week at a news conference.

400% more acres burned
The number of fires is only slightly higher than this time last year, but state data show that the acreage burned is more than 20 times greater. By this point in 2023, just over 3,000 blazes had consumed 10,398 acres. According to David Acuna, a Cal Fire battalion chief, the longer-term trends are similarly alarming.

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