Why are there so many wild fire's in California ?

Question

I live in Cincinnati Ohio and almost every night when i watch the news i here about a wild fire in the state of California so what's the deal?

Answer 1

Nice try everyone.  Every 10-20 years we have a 2-3 year drought.  This is the second year of a drought in Northern California.  A little over 2 week ago a dry lighting storm came through Northern California and it touched off over 1000 fires.  Most of these are the the heavy forest of pine and fir in the Sierra and Coast ranges.  Some are in the central valley foothills of grass and oak.  A dry lightning storm is one where there is ample lightning but little or no rain.  In normal years we get no rain between April 1 and October 1.  But outside of the total number of fires, this is not that unusual.  we have had many similar situations in the past.  We had so many fires that many of them were not actively fought for over a week because there were not enough firefighters.  Most of what you hear now are about fires that have been going for over 2 weeks.  If you want to know more go to:

http://www.nifc.gov/fire_info/nfn.htm

Answer 2

California is very dry and arid. It also has lots of bushes growing in the desert. If one thing lights up, it will quickly spread to the next dry bush. winds help spread the fire.

Answer 3

I am not an expert. In fact I live in Florida where we get our fair share or fires too. Most of ours are caused by lighting strikes and carelessness.  I do know that in California the Santa Anna Winds are  consistent and they help fuel these fires. Also, hotter summer temps and little rainfall are key factors. Nobody knows why one fire season is longer or shorter then the next. This year has begun record early for California. My parents were just in San Diego for a wedding and they could not get over how dry the air is out there. They couldn't stop talking about it.

Answer 4

I'll take a stab at this because I lived in California for 13 years. It has been so dry for so long it is a tinderbox. 10 years ago the pines in the Sierras were getting brown and the pine beetles were on the move. i.e. Long term drought.

Answer 5

Back when Europeans first moved to California, the friars raised cattle and exported the skins.  Since there is almost as much hide on a skinny cow as on a fat cow, they just turned most of them loose and let them propagate.  During hard times, the cattle overgrazed the native perennial plants and killed  many of them.  To prevent mud slides during the rainy season, the forage was replaced with annual plants.  Now the plants die each winter, providing fuel for the fires in the spring and failing to anchor dirt to prevent mud slides.  So, more fast-growing annuals are planted and the cycle repeats.