More than 64,000 forced to evacuate due to California wildfires
October 29, 2020
Residents are having to evacuate because of the quickly spreading fires in Northern California and in Colorado.The fires that are said to be caused because of a pyrotechnic device at a gender reveal and natural disasters started around September through October.
California’s record-breaking wildfires have consumed about one million acres in just the past month, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection as of October 17, 2020. The worst wildfire season in state history has been one of shocking Californian have seen. CalFire reported Saturday that more than 4.1 million acres have burned across the state in 2020 — nearly 1 million of those since mid September, when California had seen more than 3.3 million acres scorched by fire.
There have been sightings of 14 new fires by firefighters. Freshman at Ridgeview High School Lillian Caraballo says, “I started hearing about them when there was smoke in the air.” Lillian claims that the fires are polluting the air and the cause of them are the heat and dry plants. “I think we can maybe try to water the ground more then maybe the plants wouldn’t be so dry,” is some advice that Caraballo gave.
Another student, Alexia Verduzco, says, “I heard it on the news. I’m not sure when, I think September 14th.” She believes that the cause of the fires are the people. She also gave advice about how to prevent a fire. She states, “If you’re outdoors, make sure there are no trees that can get lit on. Make sure you put your fire out completely.”
Not only are substances getting lit around flammable places starting the fires, so is climate change. Alan Ager is a researcher at the US Forest Service and he says, “Climate change is amplifying fire behavior and fire size.” Over 3 million acres were burned and more than 64,000 people were forced to evacuate. Firefighters are currently trying to put all of these fires out and they are putting as many as possible people in safety.