Firefighters in California Facing Uphill Task As Fires Rage

Firefighters continue hard to contain at least 10 large wildfires that have been raging across Northern California. The high winds and dry vegetation could help the fire in spreading further, and firefighters would have to take steps to battle these conditions.

A level two of three critical risk for fire is in effect through Monday night for a large portion of California, stretching from Redding to the region just north of Sacramento, the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center said.

“Fire weather conditions should continue to worsen through the morning with critical conditions quickly developing as sustained surface winds in excess of 20 mph (gusts generally 20-35 mph) overlap (relative humidity) values less than 15%,” the prediction center said.

Red flag warnings, which are currently in place for most of N California, are expected to last till Monday evening or till the morning of Tuesday.

There has been a surge in wildfires, with the fire seasons getting longer and more intense. More than 7,500 fires have burned 2.3 million acres in California this year, according to Cal Fire, less than at this point in the devastating 2020 fire season but higher than the five-year annual average.