wildfire season News

Pandemic Stands to Complicate Potentially Bad Fire Season

DURANGO, Colo. — As if Southwest Colorado’s extreme drought wasn’t enough to raise concerns about a potentially destructive wildfire season, the added complications of the coronavirus have only fueled that anxiety. The COVID-19 outbreak demands people isolate as much as …

PG&E Vows to Reduce Scope of Deliberate Blackouts to Stop Fires

PG&E Corp. said it aims to shrink the breadth and duration of intentional blackouts during California’s wildfire season as part of a $2.6 billion plan aimed at improving safety. The bankrupt utility giant wants to reduce the average geographic reach …

Natural Disaster Losses Decline After Major Storms Spare U.S.

Insurance losses from natural disasters fell last year after the U.S. was spared the full wrath of a major Atlantic hurricane. That’s according to the reinsurance firm Munich Re, which recorded total losses of $150 billion from events like hurricanes, …

New California Blaze Erupts as Wildfire Season Refuses to Let Go

Southern California is battling yet another wildfire, which has spurred a new round of deliberate blackouts by Edison International and mandatory evacuations. Edison cut power supplies to 950 Ventura County homes and businesses, after restoring power to more than 87,000 …

After Years of Fiery Hell, California Gets Less of a Scorching in 2019

Mother Nature has given a bit of a break to California during the 2019 wildfire season, but firefighters say the threat remains in force. Only about 163,000 acres have burned this year, a fraction of the 632,000 or so scorched …

California’s Fire ‘Bailout’ for PG&E, Edison Clears Hurdle

Utility giants PG&E Corp. and Edison International are one step closer to getting California’s help in covering the costs of increasingly catastrophic wildfires that their equipment keeps igniting. The state Senate passed a bill late Monday that would create a …

California Governor Seeks Aid as Twin Wildfires Grow, 9,000 Buildings at Risk

Twin wildfires fueled by dry vegetation and hot, windy weather have continued to grow in Northern California. California fire officials said Monday that the two fires about 100 miles (161 kilometers) north of San Francisco were 30 percent contained and …

Decades Old Fire Lookouts Remain Crucial in Spotting Wildfires

Fire-lookout towers perched atop remote, craggy peaks across the U.S. West may seem like quaint reminders of an era before satellites, smartphones and jet-propelled air tankers. Indeed, some of the structures are more than 100 years old. But with their …

Utah Wildfire Grows as 2 California Blazes Spread

The nation’s largest wildfire has forced more than 1,500 people from their homes and cabins in a southern Utah mountain area home to a ski town and popular fishing lake. Firefighters battled high winds as they fought a fire that …

Arizona Blazes Grow as 2017 Wildfire Season Peaks

Multiple wildfires have prompted evacuations in southern Arizona and a highway closure in northern Arizona as the state heads into peak wildfire season. Rising temperatures, dry vegetation and lighting continue to spark fires throughout the state. Tiffany Davila, a spokeswoman …