California burning

A fire season for the record books is once again upon us

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Preston Brubaker, Co-Editor-in-Chief

California has always been known for the worst wildfires in history. The 2021 fire season has been one of the worst years recorded and it is not at its peak yet. Fires are spread all throughout California, and they are getting closer to home. 

Over the past year, there have been 6,913 wildfires burning 10 acres or more. Most of these fires have caused little to no harm. As of September 7, 2021, there are 3 major fires burning. The fires are the Dixie, Caldor, and Monument. The Dixie Fire is the worst of them all and is currently the 2nd worst fire in California history. 

The Dixie fire has burned 922,192 acres and is only 59% contained. There are currently over 6,000 firefighters fighting this blaze. Modesto has sent chief officers and multiple pieces of equipment to help. 

The Caldor fire has burned 217,569 acres and is 50% contained. On the Caldor there are about 3,500 firefighters working to put out this blaze. Not to mention the air tankers and helicopters also working to help.

Lastly, the Monument Fire. It has currently burned 189,366 acres and is 41% contained. There are 2,000 firefighters along with 8 helicopters fighting to gain control. Modesto also has a crew helping to battle this blaze.

The closest fire to us was the Washington fire that broke out by Jamestown. It was an immediate scare for many and evacuations came into effect immediately. Modesto quickly sent engines to go aid others on the Washington Fire. Luckily this fire was only 100 acres and did not pose as many threats as initially thought. 

When firefighters are sent to these fires they are required to stay for 14 days and give it their all. They do get a so-called “day off” but they are on call. They could get called back to the job no matter what. It certainly is not an easy job. There are currently 13,500 firefighters battling the wildfires all across California.

This 2021 fire season has been one for the record books. We have the Dixie Fire becoming the 2nd worst fire in history, and it is still burning. Also in 2021 California has burned 2.033,916 acres with over 7,171 fires reported according to Cal Fire. 

Many say that every year is going to be one of the worst fire seasons, but this year has definitely been one of the worst.