Around 28000 people were evacuated from their homes on Thursday as wildfires raged near Oroville, California, and a planned 4th of July celebration had to be cancelled at the last minute.
Wildfires have affected increasingly larger areas in the past three decades, which some scientists are attributing to human-induced climate change.
Heatwaves Exacerbating Wildfires
The wildfires have started during what could be an unprecedented heatwave in the state of California.
Weather-watchers are keping an eye on Death valley in particular, where temperatures have a chance of breaking the world heat record of 130 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mass Evacuation Orders
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire) has reported that around 28000 people have been issued evacuation orders for warnings.
As of now, there have been no fatalities. However, many structures have been damaged during the season.
4th of July Cancelled
People are safe, but one town in northern California had to cancel their planned 4th of July celebrations at the last minute.
Oroville, a town around 70 miles north of the state capital, Sacramento, cancelled its Independence Day fireworks celebrations.
Risk of Fireworks Starting Another Fire
The 4th of July celebrations were cancelled due to fears of the fireworks setting off another wildfire in the area, which is experiencing a heatwave.
Butte County Sheriff, Kory Honea, warns locals: “Don’t be an idiot, cause a fire and create more problems for us.”
Fire Season Runs Until October
Fire season in California has just recently begun, but will run until October.
Fire season has become more dangerous in recent years as fires have started to cover more ground while also becoming more intense.
Wildfire Developments in Recent Decades
In recent decades, fires have increasingly covered larger and larger areas. From 1996 to 2021, the area burned by wildfires increased 5 times compared to the 24 years before.
Some scientists have attributed this to change in the Earth’s climate systems.
Record Breaking Fires Becoming More Common in California
California’s summers are facing more and more record-breaking blazes, with 10 of the largest wildfires ever being recorded in only the past 20 years, according to an NIDIS study.
The team of scientists at NIDIS applied a climate-driven model to assess the effects of wildfire occurrences that could be attributed to human-induced climate change over historical climate patterns and found that nearly all the increase could be attributed to “human-caused climate change”.
Wildfire Season Heating Up
CalFire have reported that nearly two dozen fires have burned more than 10 acres each since the final week of June.
The largest wildfire so far has been in Fresno, which affected an area of almost 14000 acres.
Current Fire Dying Down
The fire near Oroville is currently being contained. Winds are dying down so it is no longer spreading.
However, the heat is still affecting firefighters. It may have topped 110 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday.
