Tag: California

California Counties Most Susceptible to Wildfires

As California’s Madre fire continues to grow, becoming the largest in that state in a year already synonymous with wildfire, Wildfire Today guest writer Jackson Ruby looks at Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) data on wildfire risk in California.

From sandy beaches to snow-capped mountains to deserts, California has it all. With its natural beauty and fourth-largest economy in the world, it isn’t surprising that the Golden State has some of the most sought-after and most expensive real estate in the United States.

Despite all that makes California a desirable place to live, an underlying threat makes its presence known every year in the form of wildfire. In 2025 alone, there have been more than 3,200 wildfires, over 96,000 acres burned, and 16,000 structures destroyed. Here, we investigate which California counties are the most susceptible to fires and provide important information to keep your family and home safe.

When is California’s “Fire Season”?

As thoroughly explained in an online guide from the Western Fire Chiefs Association, California fires can technically happen year-round, but peak fire season varies by region. In Northern California, it typically starts in June or July and lasts through late October or November. Whereas in Southern California, the peak season begins earlier, in late spring, and can continue through October.

Due to rising temperatures and limited rainfall these destructive firestorms are becoming more and more frequent, with California heading towards a year-round fire season, as with the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles County in January 2025.

California Fires Are Getting Worse

Due to California’s geography and climate, wildfires are not a new phenomenon and would occur regardless of the existence of humans. Yet in recent years, there has been a significant increase in the regularity of record-breaking fires in terms of overall destruction, frequency, and size.

Between 1973 and 2024, the western U.S. saw an average increase of 37 extra “fire weather” days each year, typically marked by high heat, low humidity, and strong winds. This trend is especially severe in California, where these dangerous conditions now happen more often, turning what was once a seasonal threat into a year-round fire risk.

In January 2025, Southern California was hit by a string of intense wildfires, including the massive Palisades and Eaton Fires. Together, these blazes destroyed more than 18,000 buildings, took 30 lives, and displaced over 200,000 residents. The Palisades Fire, in particular, ranked as the third-most destructive wildfire ever recorded in the state’s history.

According to CAL FIRE, the top four most destructive wildfires in California history have all occurred within the last eight years.

Camp Fire (November 2018) 18,804 structures destroyed.
- Palisades Fire (January 2025) 6,662 structures destroyed.
- Tubbs Fire: (October 2017) 5,636 structures destroyed.
- Eaton Fire: (January 2025) 5,418 structures destroyed.

Every year, California is confronted with more destructive, record-breaking fires that redefine the danger of California wildfires and demonstrate the dire circumstances many Californians live under.

California Counties Most At-Risk From Wildfires

Currently, more than 2.3 million acres of land in California is considered to be “high” or “very high” risk for wildfire, with a handful of California counties containing many of these acres within their borders.

Riverside County

Based on Cal Fire’s Fire Hazard Severity Zone maps, large portions of Riverside County are rated as “Very High” for wildfire risk. This is increased in regions such as the San Bernardino National Forest, Santa Ana Mountains, and areas around Palm Springs and Temecula.
FEMA ranks Riverside County as one of the highest-risk areas for wildfires in California, giving it a maximum risk score of 100%. The county is projected to lose an estimated $319 million each year due to wildfires.
Over 70% of structures in Riverside County are at risk of wildfire damage.
With an ever-growing population of more than 2.5 million, the risk of wildfires in Riverside County remains a constant danger to the populous.

San Diego County

According to updated CAL FIRE maps, San Diego County has seen a 26% increase in areas classified as “Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones,” growing from about 647,000 to over 871,000 acres. What’s especially concerning is that more urban neighborhoods are now falling within these high-risk zones.
Many communities are situated in the Wildland-Urban Interface, where development meets undeveloped wildland, increasing the potential for property damage and loss to wildfires.
Several San Diego County cities, including Chula Vista, Del Mar, Carlsbad, Poway, Santee, and San Marcos, have experienced a 10% minimum increase in areas classified as “Very High Fire Hazard.” Poway, in particular, now has nearly 80% of its total land area designated within this most severe fire risk zone.

San Bernardino County

With a population exceeding 2 million, many residents live in areas classified under high to very high fire hazard severity zones.
Urbanization has led to previously undeveloped high-risk regions being populated, increasing the number of homes and structures at risk.
Many cities such as Big Bear Lake, Chino Hills, Colton, Fontana, Hesperia, Rancho Cucamonga, Redlands, Rialto, San Bernardino, Upland, and Yucaipa fall within the very high fire hazard severity zone.
Approximately 53% of buildings in San Bernardino are at risk of wildfire, with a high-risk level.
San Bernardino experiences increased drought conditions, contributing to heightened wildfire potential.

Los Angeles County

In March 2025, CAL FIRE’s updated maps designate extensive areas in Los Angeles County as “Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones including cities such as Los Angeles, Malibu, Pasadena, Santa Clarita, and Glendale.
Los Angeles’ “Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones” expanded from 646,838 acres in 2011 to 817,212 acres in 2025.
Urban expansion into grasslands and timberlands has increased the population now living in the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) hazard areas.
Areas where wind-blown embers can ignite distant structures now affect approximately 1.3 million structures in Los Angeles County.

Ventura County

88,000 acres in Ventura County fall into the “very high” fire hazard category, a 54% increase from previous years.
Many communities in Ventura County are located where urban neighborhoods meet wildland areas, which raises the risk of wildfires threatening homes and critical infrastructure.
Almost 80% of buildings in Ventura are vulnerable to wildfires, with a large number falling within high-risk zones.
Extended dry periods and below-average rainfall have created perfect conditions for wildfires, turning Ventura County’s fire season almost a year-round risk.

Steps to Take if You Live in a High-Risk Wildfire Area

If you live in an at-risk area for a wildfire, as many Californians do, there are precautions and actions you can take in the event of a wildfire in your area.

Before a Wildfire

Regularly clean roofs, gutters, decks, and patios of leaves, pine needles, and other flammable debris.
Store gasoline and other flammables in approved containers away from the structure.
Attach garden hoses long enough to reach all areas of your property.
Keep firefighting tools accessible.
Review and update your insurance policies.
Videotape your home and possessions periodically for insurance documentation purposes.
Create and practice a wildfire evacuation plan, including routes and safety procedures.
Keep essential personal items (e.g. passports, birth certificates, photographs, valuable jewelry) in an easy to access location.
Build and store accessible emergency supply kits for each member of the household.
Remove flammable vegetation and materials within at least 30 feet of your home.

During a Wildfire

Stay informed on evacuation orders and the direction of the fire.
Gather all essential belongings and emergency kits in preparation for evacuation.
Follow a pre-planned evacuation route.
Listen and follow the directions of first responders.
Be prepared to either drive or evacuate on foot.
Secure all pets.
Remain calm.

After a Wildfire

Only return home when authorities say it’s safe.
Inspect your property for structural damage, gas leaks, and electrical issues.
Watch for hotspots, ash pits, or weakened trees and structures.
Report the damage and start the claims process as soon as possible.
Speak to a wildfire attorney

Click here to read the full report.

California

Passing of one of the last of the Triple Nickle smokejumpers

Sgt Joe Harris, one of the last of the 555 Triple Nickles, with wildland firefighters. From left to right: Neil Gallagher, Joe Harris, Jarred Barron and Siavash Mahgerefteh.

By Neil Gallagher

On March 15, 2025, Sgt. Joe Harris, one of the last surviving members of the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, known as the “Triple Nickles,” passed away in Compton, California, at the age of 108. He was three months short of turning 109. His remarkable life and service are a testament to courage, resilience, and patriotism.

The Formation of the 555th

Born on June 19, 1916, in Westdale, Louisiana, Joe Harris enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1941 at 25. Enlisting into the segregated U.S. Army, Harris volunteered for paratrooper training, joining the newly formed 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion in 1943. This unit was the first all-Black airborne battalion in the U.S. Army, a significant milestone in the ongoing struggle for racial equality within the armed forces.

Nicknamed the “Triple Nickles,” their name derived from a play on their numerical designation and a nod to the Buffalo Soldiers of the 92nd Infantry Division. The 555th was composed entirely of African American soldiers, including officers. Though the Army looked to send the 555th overseas as combat replacements during the Battle of the Bulge, the unit would remain stateside, a decision influenced by the racial prejudices of the time. Despite their rigorous training and readiness for combat, the Triple Nickles did not deploy overseas to combat the enemy abroad; however, the unit would soon combat a different kind of enemy.

Operation Firefly

Between 1944 and 1945, Japan launched over 9,000 incendiary balloon bombs, known as “Fu-Go,” across the Pacific Ocean, aiming to ignite forest fires and cause panic throughout the United States. In response, the U.S. military initiated “Operation Firefly,” a classified mission to combat these threats.

The Triple Nickles were assigned to this operation and served as smokejumpers, becoming the first military smokejumpers in history. Stationed at Pendleton Army Air Field in Oregon and Chico, California, the battalion trained extensively in firefighting techniques, preparing to parachute into remote areas to extinguish fires and neutralize unexploded ordnance. The mission was kept classified to prevent public hysteria and limit information from reaching Japan regarding the effectiveness of these bombs. Although six people were killed near Bly, Ore., when they discovered a downed balloon in May 1945, the overall damage caused by the weapons was limited.

During the operation, the 555th completed 1200 parachute jumps and responded to 36 fires across Oregon, Washington, California, and Montana. Their efforts mitigated the threat of widespread fires and laid the groundwork for aerial firefighting techniques still in use today. Despite these efforts, Operation Firefly remained classified for years, and Sgt Harris and the men of the 555th received little recognition.

Sgt. Joe Harris: A Lifetime of Service

Throughout his service in the U.S. Army, Sgt Joe Harris completed 72 parachute jumps and was eventually injured on a jump when his chute did not fully deploy. After his honorable discharge in 1945, Harris continued serving our nation by joining the U.S. Border Patrol. He later settled in Compton, California, where he became a respected figure in his community, known for his wisdom and leadership.

Enduring Legacy and Recognition

Despite their significant contributions, the Triple Nickles’ story remained largely untold for decades. However, recently, efforts have been made to honor their legacy. In 2017, a historical marker was unveiled at the Siskiyou Smokejumper Base Museum in Cave Junction, Oregon, commemorating the battalion’s service during Operation Firefly.

Moreover, the battalion’s integration into the 82nd Airborne Division post-war marked a significant step toward desegregation in the U.S. military, predating President Truman’s Executive Order 9981 by over six months.

During the LA fires this past January, Marine Corps veterans and former Wildland Firefighters Jarred Barron, Siavash Mahgerefteh, and Neil Gallagher visited Mr. Joe Harris at his home in Compton, California. During the visit organized by Gallagher, the group presented Mr. Harris with a U.S. Army Paratrooper Patch, and Mahgerefteh presented Harris with a Pulaski Axe, a tool both Harris and the group used during their respective fire service. The California Department of the American Legion featured the visit.

Sgt Joe Harris, one of the last of the Triple Nickles, the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, passed away in March 2025 at the age of 108.

The funeral for Mr. Harris, held in Inglewood, California, on April 5th, lasted over three hours, with guests traveling across the country to pay their respects. Speakers included members of the Harris family, friends, community members, veterans, and the mayor of Compton. Firefighters from the Angles National Forest were in attendance, and Soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division conducted military burial honors.

Read the LA Times account of the funeral.

Sgt. Joe Harris’s life and service continue to inspire, reminding us of the courage and determination of those who fought battles both abroad and at home. His legacy lives on through his family, including his grandson Ashton Pittman, who underwent paratrooper training to honor his grandfather’s memory. Mr. Harris is survived by two daughters, one son, four grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren, and 20 great-great-grandchildren.

As the greatest generation continues to fade away, we must ensure the sacrifices made by these men and women are not lost to time. Men like Mr. Harris paved the way for servicemembers and firefighters for generations to come.

Neil Gallagher is a former wildland firefighter with the Bureau of Land Management and a Marine Corps Veteran. He runs Preserving the Stories, a veteran’s oral history nonprofit that seeks to preserve the legacies of WWII, Korea, and Vietnam veterans. Additionally, Neil is a law student at the University of California, Berkeley.

California

Post Fire over 15,000 acres

A fire in Los Angeles County that evacuated hundreds of people from a state park has burned over 15,000 acres since it started Sunday. By Monday evening Cal Fire was reporting the fire at 15,611 acres with 20 percent containment.

late Tuesday update: 31 percent at 15,690 acres.

CNN reported the fire at 8 percent containment Monday morning, with more than 1,000 firefighters assigned — including 34 crews, 7 helicopters, and 114 engines. Numerous airtankers are working the fire as windy conditions allow.

LA County Fire Department (LACoFD) Section Chief Kenichi Ballew-Haskett said Monday morning they’re notifying residents there may be mandatory evacuation orders pending.

“We’re getting people on notice that if we have to issue a mandatory evacuation order that they need to leave,” Ballew-Haskett said, advising residents to have their bags packed, a full tank of gas, and cell phones ready. “Once the sheriffs come by or law enforcement asks you to leave, it means the danger is imminent.”

An Associated Press report said the fire forced the evacuation of at least 1,200 campers, off-roaders, and hikers from the Hungry Valley recreation area on Saturday, but Ben Nicholls, division chief with Cal Fire, said fire activity subsided overnight. “Forecasted winds are supposed to be less than we experienced yesterday, which should allow the resources assigned for this operational period to build and strengthen the control lines that were put in place yesterday,” he said.

USAtoday reported that firefighters battled wildfires across northern and central California overnight. The Post Fire is south of Gorman, about 60 miles northwest of Los Angeles; it started Saturday around 2 p.m. and, pushed by strong wind gusts, spread south along Interstate 5. LACoFD said the fire had damaged two commercial properties by Saturday evening. The fire burned an auto repair shop, damaged another building, and threatened other structures to the south and west of I-5, according to the LA Times.

Evacuation orders are in effect west of I-5 between Pyramid Lake and Gorman, and warnings are in place for areas south of Pyramid Lake between Old Ridge Route and the Los Angeles County line. The National Weather Service warned Sunday of wind gusts of 60 to 70 mph and a red flag warning was issued for the I-5 corridor in Los Angeles County and the Ventura County mountains until 5 p.m. Monday.

State Farm quits another 72,000 California homes

State Farm Insurance will discontinue coverage for 72,000 houses and apartments in California this summer. California’s largest insurer, which is based in Illinois, cites soaring costs, the increasing risk of wildfires and other catastrophes, and outdated regulations for its refusal to renew policies on 30,000 houses and 42,000 apartments, according to CBS News.

“State Farm General takes seriously our responsibility to maintain adequate claims-paying capacity for our customers and to comply with applicable financial solvency laws,” the company announced. “It is necessary to take these actions now.” California’s insurance commissioner has undertaken a yearlong overhaul of home insurance regulations aimed at calming the state’s imploding market by giving insurers more latitude to raise premiums while extracting commitments from them to extend coverage in fire-risk areas. The California Department of Insurance said State Farm will have to answer questions from regulators about this decision.

MyMotherlode reported that State Farm said it will work with Governor Gavin Newsom and Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara to develop reforms that better align insurance rates with risk. Levi Sumagaysay with CalMatters.org explains that many California homeowners are just now discovering that their policies are being canceled — and hundreds of thousands of others are stuck with a pricey option of last resort — and for them Commissioner Lara’s efforts to fix the market can’t come soon enough.

Lara has introduced two main regulations, with more to follow. The first, unveiled last month, will streamline rate reviews. State law gives the Insurance Department the power to approve or deny insurers’ requests to raise premiums. Insurance companies complain the process holds up requested increases caused by rising climate-change risks and inflation.

The second regulation will let insurers use catastrophe modeling — which combines historical data with projected risk and losses — along with other factors when setting their premiums. California is the last state to allow this catastrophe modeling.

“We’re undertaking the state’s largest insurance reform,” Lara said earlier this month. “We can no longer look solely to the past to guide us to the future.”

This new round of cancellations accounts for just 2 percent of State Farm’s policies in the state, and the company did not indicate which regions are hit hardest, nor its criteria for selecting non-renewals.

We reported last August that several major insurance companies had stopped accepting California homeowners for new policies because of growing wildfire risks. As the number of fires in the state increases and other factors escalate, insurance companies worry about the risk — and the expense.

Residents in high-risk fire areas or hurricane regions need homeowners’ insurance — and lenders require it. No insurance, no home loan. More people are moving into the interface, costing insurance companies too much to repair and replace houses while battling inflation, said Janet Ruiz with the Insurance Information Institute. Two insurance giants withdrew from California’s home insurance marketplace, explaining that increasing wildfire risk and soaring construction costs have resulted in their decisions to stop writing new policies in the state. “We take seriously our responsibility to manage risk,” State Farm said. “It’s necessary to take these actions now to improve the company’s financial strength.”

California State Farm

Will fire be the death of California’s wine industry?

The “beating heart of the American wine industry” has had to reckon with this question since 2017 when numerous wildfires spread across northern California’s famed wine country. The Tubbs, Atlas, and Nuns fires burned hundreds of thousands of acres, caused numerous deaths, and destroyed multiple wineries and vineyards in Napa and Sonoma counties.

The total acreage burned and widespread property damage caused the 2017 wildfire season to be the most destructive in California’s history. That record-breaking year was quickly surpassed by the 2018 and 2020 fire seasons. The 2020 season, in particular, also broke burn records in the other top American wine-producing states of Oregon and Washington, and even Canada in 2021. Wildfires in the years following impacted international wine markets as well, including Italy, France, and Australia.

Intense flames aren’t the only threat wildfires bring to vineyards; it’s also the smoke they produce. A condition called “smoke taint” causes wine grapes exposed to smoke to acquire “unmarketable smoky, burnt, ashy, or medicinal sensory characteristics,” according to the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI).

The international wine industry has made it clear that it views wildfires and smoke as existential threats, along with increasing water shortages and climate change as a whole. The industry has poured billions of dollars into research on ways to stave off the industry’s wildfire-caused death rattle. Examples of recent smoke-related wine research in the U.S. include a protective spray coating for grapes, detecting the compounds responsible for the undesirable taste, and using smoke sensors in vineyards for risk assessment.

Agriculture-based technological developments, however, can only do so much to keep a fire-sensitive crop alive after it’s planted on fire-dependent lands. Grapes, while not technically invasive, have invaded portions of the Western United States’ lands and have largely usurped once highly forested regions where fire played an important ecological role. As prescribed fire establishes a larger role in modern Western land management practices, how long can an industry based on fruit that needs a smokeless environment survive and thrive?

The birth of California’s wine industry is well-recorded: Spanish missionaries planted the state’s first sustained vineyards in southern California during the late 1700s using grapes native to Europe — to make sacramental wine. Wine production then exploded in the northern and central parts of the state during the Gold Rush, paving the way for California’s current top grape-producing counties of Fresno, San Joaquin, and Kern.

What’s not well-recorded is how agricultural land conversions cleared millions of acres of conifer and oak forests throughout the state to make way for vineyards and other crop fields. In Napa and Sonoma counties specifically, areas now known as the pinnacle of “wine country,” modern vineyards sit on land that once supported massive oak forests culturally maintained by the area’s various Indigenous tribes.

“While almost all of the valley oaks are gone from Napa — the savannas were largely cleared to make way for intensive agriculture in the late 19th century — a few pockets remain,” a New York Times article on the Napa Valley Historical Ecology Atlas said. “The oldest trees, dating back more than 300 years, were alive when the Caymus, Napa, Canijolmano and Mayacma tribes managed the valley to produce abundant acorns, deer, salmon, and other staples.”

The clearing of these woodlands was coupled with a government-mandated suppression of cultural burning, a kind of prescribed burning Native Americans used to promote culturally significant foods and resources within a landscape. After a century of fire suppression, the USFS has begun to understand how significant cultural fire is to promoting biodiversity and creating healthy landscapes.

“Colonization and subsequent governmental fire policy mandates have disrupted the cultural use of fire, which in turn has disrupted ecological functions where those fires are absent,” USFS research said. “As society grapples with the devastating impacts of wildfires and the loss of biological diversity, many Indigenous people see traditional fire use as a key to mitigation of devastating losses while retaining traditional livelihoods associated with burning.”

In hopes of preventing future megafires, California increases prescribed burns throughout the state, including wine country. Even though research shows smoke from prescribed burns tends to be less harmful and toxic compared with smoke from wildfires, the grapes themselves don’t seem to care.

“Studies have shown that grapes need to be exposed to only a single smoke event, irrespective of the source, to become ‘tainted,’” AWRI said. “Bushfires, forest fires, planned burns, grassfires, and agricultural burns can all cause smoke taint if smoke from those fires is present in a vineyard at a high enough level for a period of time. Current research suggests fresh smoke presents the greatest risk for smoke taint, but smoke that has drifted hundreds of kilometers has also resulted in smoke taint.”

Efforts have been made for fire planners and wine producers to work together to minimize smoke’s negative effects on wine grapes, but thus far have mostly been in vain. AWRI and other wine industry researchers recommend the best time to conduct prescribed burns to limit smoke taint is during the height of wildfire season between May and October; before grapevine flowering and after grape harvest. The “usual” best times to set prescribed burns, mid-spring or in the fall, are the most at-risk times for smoke taint in grapes.

The contradiction is clear: Grapes, at least those that winemakers don’t want smoke-tainted, can’t exist in an area with regularly prescribed burns, e.g. California.

Grapes themselves are partly to blame for this. A concept called “terroir” has been used for centuries to describe the deep ecology behind why grapes grown in different places and in different ways acquire different qualities. Everything including temperature, soil, geology, elevation, water quality, wind direction, farming practices, and the winemaking process influences grapes and, by extension, the wine made from them. Even if researchers could 100 percent prevent smoke-taint issues in wine grapes, the grapes themselves would still be affected by the inevitable changes the fire-dependent landscape will experience in years to come.

The irony is that California does have native grapes, which thrived in the state’s pre-colonized and fire-dependent forests. In fact, the global wine industry wouldn’t exist today without California Wild Grapevines, as the species was used to save the European wine industry between 1870 and 1900 when most wine grapes were killed by leaf- and root-attacking aphids. Winemakers, in a last-resort desperate bid, used Califonia Wild Grapevine roots and grafted them onto European grape varieties. The result was a plant with the root resilience of a wild grape and the desirable taste of a European grape.

California wild grapes themselves, however, were originally discredited by European colonists for being too “foxy” and not containing enough sugar. But in a state destined to have more smoke, the more fire-resilient California Wild Grape, whose burnt vines can resprout, may soon be the California wine industry’s only option. One farmer in Sonoma County agrees and is experimenting with more than 30 different native grape hybrids in response to climate change.

The global wine industry is one of stubborn tradition. The industry’s desire to find easy “solutions” to existential problems without systemic change paints a worrying picture of the role California’s vineyards play in the state’s fight against future wildfires. Winemakers can only hide behind the industry’s $70 billion price tag for so long.

There comes a point at which economic benefit is outweighed by potential ecological destruction, and the industry will soon have to decide whether it will play a role in California’s solutions to megafires or actively hamper efforts to help make the state’s landscape healthy. Winemakers in California may soon have to answer the question of “when should this industry die?”

California smoke wine

Cal Fire will finally get its C-130s

Cal Fire is now one big step closer to getting seven military transport planes from the Coast Guard to fight fire after Congress passed legislation this week to speed up the transfer.

According to a Politico report, the National Defense Reauthorization Act contains language to expedite the legal transfer of seven C-130 aircraft from the Coast Guard to Cal Fire. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) said Minnesota’s 133rd Airlift Wing was selected to receive 8 new C-130J aircraft; the new aircraft will replace decades-old C-130H aircraft, which were supposed to have been transferred over to California years ago.

In a move by Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA), Senator John Boozman (R-AR), and Congressman Ken Calvert (CA-41), the final version of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act includes an effort that recognizes the work of Governor Newsom and Cal Fire Chief Joe Tyler, who pushed the effort over the finish line.

Aerial Fire Magazine reported back in October that it was nearly five years ago that Congress told the U.S. Air Force to convert the seven surplus USCG C-130s aircraft into firefighting tankers for California. It never finished the job, and now California just wants the planes. Period. “We were fortunate this year to have a fire season that wasn’t like we’ve had in previous years,” said Ken Pimlott, now-retired chief of Cal Fire. “But it’s coming back — this is only one year. We can’t afford to lose any more time getting these aircraft retrofitted.”

So California Sen. Alex Padilla and Rep. Ken Calvert added a provision in the 2024 defense spending bill to hand over the C-130s to Cal Fire immediately — whether they were finished or not.

In service for more than 60 years, the C-130 is a workhorse of military aircraft, used for decades for troop transport, medical evacuations, search and rescue, and weather reconnaissance. As airtankers they have a drop capacity of 3000 gallons.

“This transfer will save lives, improve air quality, protect forestlands, and reduce carbon emissions,” said Matt Dias with Calforests, the California Forestry Association. “Adding seven C-130s to California’s aerial firefighting force is a truly remarkable advancement.”

Cal Fire Director Joe Tyler said the C-130s will help reduce loss of life and property to California wildfires. “I look forward to these aircraft joining our world-renowned aerial firefighting force,” he said. “Between earthquakes, wildfires and other natural disasters, California is one of the most costly and challenging states for property insurers and owners.” He said California can’t prevent earthquakes, but it can fight fire.

When Biden signs the defense bill into law, the planes will be transferred, and California will enter into a contract for the work. The first of the seven planes will likely be ready in time for the 2024 fire year, adding immediate value to the state’s fleet.

KRCR-TV reported on the transfer back in August.

Matt Dias, president and CEO of the California Forestry Association, said the new aircraft will have the capacity to drop 3,000 gallons of retardant in less than five seconds, which is more than twice the load dropped by Cal Fire’s current S-2Ts.

“To be able to use aerial deployment of retardant for initial attack and suppression is really critical,” Dias said.

Retired Chief Ken Pimlott said the planes should give firefighters a big boost in future fire seasons, noting the engines on the C-130s. “In general they’re a bigger aircraft, they’re a four-engine aircraft where the S-2 is a two-engine,” he said. “Since it flies faster, it can return to the base and reload more quickly as well.”

The transfer has been delayed for years and became a priority for California’s firefighting agency. Coulson Aviation’s Retardant Aerial Delivery System (RADS) can be installed on virtually any C-130. The Coulson RADS-XXL is half the cost of competing systems — and one-sixth the weight — and it requires no additional crew or equipment. The RADS-XXL systems were selected for the Hercules C-130 aircraft fleet operated by Cal Fire.

deployment on

C-130 California

After 150 years, wolves back in southern California — thanks to wildfire

Wildfires don’t “destroy” the landscapes they burn through.

Wildfires can kill trees, vegetation, and occasionally wildlife. Flames can burn down homes and businesses in towns and neighborhoods. They can even level entire city blocks.

But wildfires don’t “destroy” acres of land. More often than not, fire paves the way for something new to take root; to grow back.

A new thing has taken root in the burn scar of southern California’s 2021 Windy Fire. The lightning-caused wildfire, which burned just north of the 2016 Cedar Fire east of Porterville, burned nearly 100,000 acres of the Tule River Indian Reservation and the Sequoia National Forest, killing an estimated 3 to 5 percent of the world’s giant sequoia population.

A keystone species — an organism that helps define an entire ecosystem — is calling the fire area home again, 150 years after being hunted and driven out. A pack of gray wolves, one adult female and four cubs, has been seen in the area, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). The pack is officially the state’s southernmost wolf pack and is more than 200 miles from the nearest separate wolf pack.

“CDFW investigated the reported location, found wolf tracks and other signs of wolf presence, and collected 12 scat and hair samples from the immediate area for genetic testing,” according to the agency. “The new pack consists of at least one adult female, who is a direct descendant of California’s first documented wolf in the state in recent history.”

This image is the first photo of the pack’s adult female:

Southern California wolf photo by Michelle Harris, Colibri Ecological Consulting

While the wolves’ return to the area is historically and ecologically significant, wolves finding home in a burn scar is reportedly a common occurrence, according to an article from Scientific American.

A lack of trees allows more sunlight to hit the soil and causes plants to sprout. The plants attract deer and other species, offering wolves ample eating opportunities. Burn scars can also act as prime den sites for wolves, with clear forests offering less obstructed views of their surroundings, intruders, and predators. And wolves aren’t the only animals to take advantage of a post-wildfire landscape.

“Other animals, such as wild turkeys, are attracted to areas soon after fire because they forage on seeds and invertebrates on the ground in the blackened areas,” said Chris Moorman, a professor of fisheries, wildlife and conservation biology at NC State University. Low-intensity prescribed fires can also increase abundance and diversity of certain plant species in forest understories.

west of Kernville

California Windy Fire wolves

California this year got off easy — SO FAR

The acreage burned to date in California is less than a third of the state’s 5-year average, according to Cal Fire, and experts attribute the lower numbers to the historic winter storms and a record snowpack in the Pacific Southwest. But those “atmospheric river” storms resulted in huge fuels growth that could, with gusty autumn winds, mean wildfires into November or even December.

“Now is not the time for people to let their guard down,” said Brian Newman, assistant chief of Cal Fire’s Amador-El Dorado Unit. “We still have fire season ahead of us before we get into winter rains that would finally end it.”

Rim Fire, 2013. Inciweb photo — 2013 Rim Fire, inciweb photo.

California’s dry, windy, and hot weather conditions from spring through late autumn can produce moderate to severe wildfires. Pre-1800, when the area was much more forested and the ecology also much more resilient, 4.4 million acres of forest and shrubland burned each year. California land area totals about 100 million acres; since 2000 annual burned acreage has ranged between 90,000 acres (0.09 percent of the state), and 1,590,000 acres (1.59 percent). During the 2020 wildfire season alone, over 8,100 fires contributed to the burning of nearly 4.5 million acres of land.

According to the Sacramento Bee, with 317,191 acres burned so far this year, that’s under 30 percent of the 5-year average of 1.2 million acres for the same year-to-date period. Even though this season’s totaled a “normal” number of new fires, the extra precipitation and cool nights kept the acreage down. Without a dramatic weather change in the next couple of months, California will be experiencing its second straight year of mild wildfire season.

Last year, fewer than 363,000 acres burned. This year’s largest fire, the Smith River Complex near the Oregon border, totaled 95,017 — under 100,000 acres. In 2020 approximately 4.3 million acres burned, and in 2021, 2.6 million acres. Climate scientists are confident that warming temperatures have increased the severity and length of fire seasons, but many hesitate to actually attribute California’s mild 2023 wildfire season to climate change. “I tend not to give much credence to the idea that single events and single summers or winters can be ascribed to climate change,” said Hugh Safford, chief scientist of Vibrant Planet and faculty at the UC Davis Department of Environmental Science and Policy.

“There’s no question that climate warming is having a major impact on expanding the fire season and increasing severity,” he said. “But California has the highest inter-annual variability and precipitation of any state in the United States. It is normal to go from a record wet year to a record — or nearly record — dry year, and that’s just the way it is.”

According to the Daily Mail, Patrick T. Brown, a lecturer at Johns Hopkins University, says he deliberately omitted a key fact in a climate change piece recently published to ensure that editors would run it — the fact that 80 percent of wildfires are human-caused. Brown gave as an example a Nature paper he recently authored, “Climate warming increases extreme daily wildfire growth risk in California.” Brown said the paper focuses exclusively on how climate change has affected extreme wildfire behavior — but ignores other key factors.

He said academic journals now reject papers that don’t “support certain narratives” and said the media focus on climate change as the root cause of wildfires — including the recent devastating fires in Hawaii. Brown wrote in a piece for The Free Press that this distorts a great deal of climate science research.

But the climate models seen by Erwan Monier, associate professor of climate change impacts at UC Davis Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, make him predict that this upcoming year’s combination of a strong El Niño and warmer ocean temperatures could mean another wet year. “This is most likely the configuration that will control California’s climate this winter,” he said, “and will have implications for the next wildfire season. Because if we have another very wet winter, that means we’ll have even more moisture that could again lead to mild fires next year.”

Scientists predict global temperature increases from human-made greenhouse gases will continue. Severe weather damage will also increase and intensify.

What leading researchers in climate change effects (wildfire et al.) have found, though, lines up with what firefighters observe in the field:

- - We already see effects that scientists predicted, such as the loss of sea ice, melting glaciers and ice sheets, sea level rise, and more intense heat waves.
  - Scientists predict global temperature increases from human-made greenhouse gases will continue. Severe weather damage will also increase and intensify.

Global climate change is not a future problem. Changes to Earth’s climate, driven by increased human emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases, are already creating widespread effects on the environment: glaciers and ice sheets are shrinking, river and lake ice is breaking up earlier, plant and animal geographic ranges are shifting, and plants and trees are blooming sooner. Wildfires and fire seasons are just a piece of the many changes that are coming — changes that are here now.

California fire season R5

California insurance rules change

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said this week that insurance companies in the state will soon be allowed to factor in climate risks including wildfires in their insurance rates — if they increase their underwriting in at-risk areas to wean consumers off state-funded coverage.

Reuters reported that in the last year or two, seven of the state’s top 12 insurers have paused or restricted new business, including State Farm and Liberty Mutual, and the government’s Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) Plan, intended as an insurer of last resort, has grown to a 3 percent share of California’s market.

Firefighters on the Dixie Fire at Greenville, CA, 2021. Jay Walter.

“We are at a major crossroads on insurance after multiple years of wildfires and storms intensified by the threat of climate change,” Lara said.

Unlike other states, according to an ABC News report, California does not allow insurance companies to consider current or future risks when setting the rate for an insurance policy. Companies can consider only what’s happened on a property in the past to set the price.

And insurers say that restriction makes it difficult to accurately price the risk.

On Thursday, Lara said California will write new rules to let insurers look to the future when setting their rates. “Modernizing our insurance market is not going to be easy or happen overnight,” he said. “We are in really unchartered territory and we must make difficult choices when the world is changing rapidly.”

The rule change is not all good news — it could mean higher rates for homeowners who have already seen dramatic increases. Eight insurance companies in California have requested increases of at least 20 percent this year, according to the California Department of Insurance.

Harvey Rosenfield, the author of a 1988 ballot proposition that regulates insurance rates, said Lara’s announcement “will dramatically increase homeowner and renter insurance bills by hundreds or even thousands of dollars.”

El comisionado de Seguros de California, Ricardo Lara, dijo esta semana que a las compañías de seguros del estado pronto se les permitirá tener en cuenta los riesgos climáticos, incluidos los incendios forestales, en sus tarifas de seguro, si aumentan su suscripción en áreas de riesgo para que los consumidores dejen de recibir cobertura financiada por el estado.

Reuters informó que en el último año o dos, siete de las 12 principales aseguradoras del estado han detenido o restringido nuevos negocios, incluyendo State Farm y Liberty Mutual, y el Plan de Acceso Justo a los Requisitos de Seguro (FAIR, por sus siglas en inglés) del gobierno, pensado como una aseguradora del último año. resort, ha crecido hasta alcanzar una cuota del 3 por ciento del mercado de California.

California Insurance wildfire

California’s becoming uninsurable

Several major insurance companies have stopped accepting California homeowners for new policies because of growing wildfire risks. As the number of fires in the state increases and other factors escalate, insurance companies worry about the risk — and the expense.

In 2022 there were over 5,000 wildfires, according to Cal Fire, that burned about 118,000 acres. Already this year 4,337 fires have burned over 114,560 acres.

Residents in high-risk fire areas or hurricane regions need homeowners’ insurance — and lenders require it. No insurance, no home loan. More people are moving into the interface, costing insurance companies too much to repair and replace houses while battling inflation, said Janet Ruiz with the Insurance Information Institute. Two insurance giants withdrew from California’s home insurance marketplace, explaining that increasing wildfire risk and soaring construction costs have resulted in their decisions to stop writing new policies in the state. State Farm announced last week it would stop accepting applications for all business and personal lines of property and casualty insurance, according to the Associated Press. The company cited inflation, a challenging reinsurance market, and rapidly growing catastrophe exposure.

“We take seriously our responsibility to manage risk,” State Farm said. “It’s necessary to take these actions now to improve the company’s financial strength.”

Unlike heavyweights State Farm and Allstate, which declined to sign new homeowners in the state, AmGUARD and Falls Lake will also drop their existing policyholders.

Allstate, another insurance powerhouse, announced in November it would pause new policies for homeowners, condos and commercial properties in California to protect current customers.

Homeowners may have to turn to the California FAIR Plan, which provides basic fire coverage, if they aren’t able to find an insurer that will cover fire expenses. The high-risk pool known as the FAIR Plan is not a government entity or a state program. Taxpayers do not fund the FAIR Plan — it’s supported by all carriers licensed to do business in California, which spreads the risk among all the insurance carriers. Because the FAIR Plan is a high-risk policy, people should expect to pay more than they would for a standard homeowner policy.

The San Francisco Standard reported last week that two more companies quietly left the California market, further narrowing options for those trying to insure their home or purchase one with a mortgage.

AmGUARD Insurance — a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies — will withdraw its homeowners and personal umbrella programs, and Falls Lake Insurance will also end its homeowners program. Both companies made the announcements July 21 in little-noticed filings submitted to the state regulator. AmGUARD and Falls Lake are the latest insurers to end or limit their business in the state during the past year.

Unlike heavyweights State Farm and Allstate, which declined to sign new homeowners in the state, AmGUARD and Falls Lake will also drop their existing policyholders. Safeco plans to drop 950 policies in October in San Francisco and the East Bay.

An SFGATE report noted that State Farm held the most policies in the California property market in 2021, and the company experienced about a 60 percent loss that year.

California FAIR Plan Insurance