Clarification on the California wildfires

Sebastian Guzman and Adrian Nava

What is happening right now in the California Wildfires?

The California Wildfires have been going for about a week and have destroyed 9,000 homes and miles of miles of acres. The current death toll is up to about 59 people and 52,000 have been forced to evacuate due to the rising and surging flames. 130 people are still unaccounted for. The locations of the Wildfires are Butte county and Los Angeles County, Ventura County. The fires in 2018 have been 30 percent than the rest of the Wildfires in decades. At its height, the Camp Fire was burning the equivalent of 60 Football fields per minute. There is now 600 people missing in California’s Wildfire. 

How do most Wildfires start? 

Wildfires are caused by humans or naturally caused. Natural fires are usually started by lightning and Human caused fires can be started by many ways. It can also begin with something as simple as a downed power line, a flat tire or a tossed cigarette butt.  

How are Wildfires put out? 

Helicopters and air tankers that can drop water or fire retardant on blazes, but they only slow the progression of the fire for the ground resources to put the fire out. Huge planes that are filled with tanks of water can drop the water over the blazes and large fires. Some helicopters get equipped with big buckets to douse fires. They can carry 300 to 800 gallons of water from nearby sources, including lakes, pools, ponds, or oceans.