Ephraim Alfaro, Freshman
The wildfires currently blanketing California are the worst to have ever been recorded in the state. The fires are even worse than those of 2018, which were previously the worst in California’s history. The damage caused by the 2018 fires has already been surpassed near the start of fire season this year, meaning the numbers will likely soar to be much higher this year than previous years.
When starting to research this, the area affected was already two and a half million acres, but grew to three million acres recently. To put that in comparison, in 2018,1.9 million acres burnt down, the most ever recorded, and the number of fires this year are already approaching double that. For comparison, in 2019, an average year, only about four hundred and fifty thousand acres were subject to forest fires. As mentioned before, the current number is already up to three million at the start of the season, which could potentially double as the season continues. As to how large of an area three million acres really is, it is 4,687.5 square miles; almost the size of the state of Connecticut.
Ninety percent of forest fires are caused by humans. They can be started by unattended campfires, cigarettes, running cars, arson, and, what seem to cause the most devastating fires, gender reveal parties. Gender reveal parties have caused some of the worst fires in both 2018 and 2020. Other than just plain negligence, these fires can also be started by high voltage wires that have broken because a telephone pole fell over, or live wires outside that have been opened by an animal or a sharp branch. If the fires are not man made, they can be caused by lightning or, on very rare occasions, very dry leaves that manage to get too hot and dry and catch fire.
The wildfires are the worst ever this year, but why? The first and most obvious reason is that it is very hot and dry this year on the West Coast. There has also been a lot of lightning in a small area where the biggest fires have started, allowing for the fire to start and spread quickly. Corona-virus regulations also caused forest fires to be uncontrollable. The Fire service cannot work as well as it could otherwise, as there needs to be social distancing. This causes the firemen to move slower than usual and is hindering them from stopping the fires.
The fires are bad in just sheer scale, but there are a lot more side effects than people dying. Twenty people have died from the fires, and there has been extremely bad damage caused. Houses that are not burnt down by the fires are still at risk. Houses are not built to be airtight, only watertight, so the smoke can come right into people's houses. This smoke can cause lung disease, heart disease and cancer. The overall damage at the time of writing is enormous with almost seven thousand houses being burnt down. The wildlife in California is being absolutely obliterated by these enormous fires and it will take a long time for the wildlife to recover.
The overall destruction of California is devastating. With the overall destruction of houses and people's lives, it will change the West Coast for a long time. However, the best thing to do in a bad situation is to learn from it and do better the next time. Whatever that may be, this experience should be able to be stopped if nature and negligence try to do this again.
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