Summer season in California means wildfire season as well, as the often dry and drought suffering state is full of ground that easily catches, especially with the blazing summer sun. This summer is looking like it will be no different, as already we have seen a number of large and small wildfires burning around the state. However, concern increases this week as a fire nears the town of Paradise in northern California, which just a few years ago was the epicenter of the deadliest fire in California history. In 2018, the Camp Fire destroyed thousands of buildings and killed 85 people. Now, just 30 miles south of Paradise in Palermo, the Apache Fire is burning, worrying those still recovering from the Camp Fire.
The Apache Fire started on Monday and was on a roll with containment at first.
After the first day of the fire blazing, Cal Fire was able to get the fire reduced by about one quarter of its original size. At that point in the blaze, the fire had left one person injured and two structures ruined. Originally, Cal Fire issued an evacuation order; however, they downgraded the notifications to warnings for parts of Butte County. The warnings expressed caution due to possible weather changes; but assured residents that in the current climate they seemed to have a read on the fire enough to not have to evacuate yet.
With the town of Paradise still in a fragile recovery mode, the National Weather Service issued a red flag warning.
This red flag warning is the highest level of an alert from the National Weather Service. Contextually, the warning’s meaning can change; however, it essentially is always due to weather conditions being perfect for fires to bloom. That is the case here as wind gusts were picking up in combination with low humidity levels and warm, increasingly growing hotter, temperatures.
As of just a few days ago, Cal Fire registered almost 2,300 fires in California for 2024.
In total, the thousands of fires have burned up over 90,000 acres. At least 26 structures have been destroyed as a result of the fires, but luckily zero deaths have been reported at this time. The fires are spread around both northern and southern California. Some fires have been large, causing widespread burns, while others have been smaller, quickly contained issues.
