Article written by: Matthew Oates
Southern California is no stranger to wildfires. For many of us, they’re a fact of life: smoky skies, evacuation alerts, and the hum of helicopters overhead. However, the recent Mountain Fire in Camarillo felt a little different. The intensity, and speed were nearly unmatched. With the six year anniversary of the Woolsey fire behind us, it feels like it’s been too long without a large fire. Unfortunately, fires like this are becoming more frequent, more severe, and harder to contain. And as much as we might want to chalk it up to bad luck, we know better. Climate change is slowly transforming the fire season into a year-round crisis.
The Mountain Fire burned over 20,000 acres (that’s 32 square miles), forcing evacuations and sending plumes of smoke visible for miles. Wildfires in late November used to be an anomaly. Actually, massive wildfires at all used to be an anomaly- but now they’re just normal. So normal that, when it first started, I didn’t even bat an eye. It was practically expected. The Lake Fire, which happened this July in the Santa Ynez Valley and clocked in at about 40,000 acres, wasn’t so odd. The pattern was even predictable. I took a few days to do some minor studying of it with an ex-wildlands firefighter, and he explained to me the wind patterns that resulted in the valley. In the morning, it’d be blowing in from the ocean towards the mountains. By the end of the day, the mountains would’ve heated up, but the ocean stays cool, so the wind would shift in the opposite direction. So if it was so predictable, why did it take over 30 days to contain?
Warmer temperatures, prolonged droughts, and shifting rainfall patterns have created a perfect storm for fire seasons. According to Cal Fire, the fire season in the Sierra Nevada range is now 75 days longer than it was in the 1970s, and Southern California is no exception to this shift. Fires like the Mountain Fire and Lake Fire aren’t just a local problem. They’re a sign of a larger crisis, a crisis that’s affecting everyone. Floods, storms, evacuations, migrations; these are just a few of the problems being faced. As climate change accelerates, the balance that kept our region’s fire season in check is being disrupted. Conditions are hotter and drier, and that’s creating an environment where fires can spark more easily and burn faster. Once they start, we clearly have very little to stop them.
So why is this happening? Anyone could answer that- climate change, right? Yes, but there’s a much, much deeper history behind it. It starts all the way back to the very first native people who inhabited California. Southern California’s chaparral and grasslands are naturally fire-prone, but they’ve evolved to withstand occasional blazes. Originally, the native tribes practically controlled fire. They would intentionally burn crops, forests, meadows, with a perfect plan of sparking growth, renewing an area, or growing a certain plant that responds to fires. When settlers first came, they saw these practices as dangerous and uncontrolled, and immediately put a stop to it. So, what happens when the plants that were once burned regularly can’t be? They keep growing, keep gathering fuel for the big fires that we see in the modern day.
Now, how climate change plays into this. Our region’s Mediterranean climate relies on a pattern of wet winters and dry summers. But climate change has disrupted this rhythm. Rainfall is becoming less predictable, and droughts are lasting longer. The dry vegetation left behind becomes tinder for the next fire. Higher average temperatures mean that even when it does rain, moisture evaporates more quickly. By the time fire season rolls around, vegetation is bone dry and ready to burn. It’s easy to focus on the numbers—acres burned, homes lost, millions spent on firefighting—but what about the human toll? Fires like the Mountain Fire displace families, destroy livelihoods, and leave entire communities grappling with loss. I’m sure for a lot of us, this was quite the flashback to the Woolsey or Thomas fire. But the impacts don’t stop at our front doors. Wildfires also take a toll on public health. Smoke and ash pollute the air, exacerbating respiratory issues and increasing hospital visits. Vulnerable populations, like children and the elderly, are especially at risk.
It’s easy to talk about this now, the issue is so fresh. But what about in six months, even three? It’s unsettling how quickly we forget. Once the fire is out, the headlines fade, and life moves on. The hills turn green again, the spring rains come, and there’s not a thought in anyone’s mind about fires. That is until the next blaze flares up, stronger and faster than the last. But the fires are trying to tell us something: Southern California is changing, and not for the better.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2021/california-fires-maps-data/