As of late, wildfires have been ravaging California at an unprecedented rate. Fires are decimating wildlife, natural landscape, and even entire towns. Though firefighters are now thought to be controlling the progression of the largest fires, the devastation wrought by this year’s wildfire season has surpassed all previous records.
Last year, according to the US Forest Service, 564,835 acres were affected by a total of 6,986 fires in California. Thus far, the year 2017 has already seen more than double that many acres burned by wildfires, with 1,046,995 acres being affected by close to 8,000 fires.
To put that in perspective, 1,000,000 acres is about one-and-one-tenth times the size the state of Rhode Island – California wildfires have decimated a region larger than the entire state of Rhode Island. The area burned is also four-fifths the size of the Grand Canyon National Park, which encompasses 277 miles of terrain.
In addition to the natural landscape destroyed by the fires, as of Wednesday October 18, 42 people have died, according the LA Times. The death toll surpassed California’s state record on Friday of last week, after 36 deaths, and is likely to keep growing.
State Senator Mike McGuire, tweeted that in Sonoma County alone, the cost of the fire damage is expected to be close to three billion dollars. He also noted that damage estimates were expected to increase continually.
In a report from CNN, a California resident, Allison De Toffoli, displaced by the fire spoke of the grief she felt when returning to her parents’ incinerated home: “So many family heirlooms – I thought my whole life, ‘I’m going to inherit these someday. This is what I’m going to pass down to my kids.’”
The potential toxicity of the debris also complicates the ability of people to return to their homes. Public health officers for the state of California have warned citizens to be careful when returning to site of a fire. Disturbing debris can release dangerous, potentially lethal, toxins into the air.
Currently, 15 major fires continue to rage all throughout the state.
More than 11,000 firefighters are currently fighting the recent outbreak in wildfires still sweeping the northern part of the state.