Relatively Mild Fire Season Across Western States
Statistics show the 2016 fire season has been quieter than recent years.
According to the Associated Press, via information from the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, just under five million acres have burned this year, nationally, compared to over 10 million acres last year. 2016 is also below the 10-year average which has been closer to seven million acres charred.
In California, the largest wildfire of 2016 has been the 132,100 acre Sobranes Fire in Monterey County. The largest fire in the Mother Lode this year has been the 1,080 acre Marshes Fire near Chinese Camp.
By comparison, last year’s Butte Fire in Calaveras and Amador counties charred over 70,800 acres and the 2013 Rim Fire in Tuolumne and Mariposa counties burned over 257,000 acres.
The lighter fire season across the entire West is being partially attributed to heavier precipitation last winter and early snow this Fall across portions of Northern California, Washington, Oregon, Montana and Wyoming.
Areas of southern California still have a notably high fire risk entering the end of October due to dry conditions and heavy winds.
