Английская Википедия:2018 California wildfires

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The 2018 wildfire season was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire season in California history. It was also the largest on record at the time, now third after the 2020 and 2021 California wildfire seasons. In 2018, there were a total of 103 confirmed fatalities, 24,226 structures damaged or destroyed, and 8,527 fires burning Шаблон:Convert, about 2% of the state's 100 million acres of land. Through the end of August 2018, Cal Fire alone spent $432 million on operations. The catastrophic Camp Fire alone killed at least 85 people, destroyed 18,804 buildings and caused $16.5 billion in property damage, while overall the fires resulted in at least $26.347 billion in property damage and firefighting costs, including $25.4 billion in property damage and $947 million in fire suppression costs.

In mid-July to August 2018, a series of large wildfires erupted across California, mostly in the northern part of the state. On August 4, 2018, a national disaster was declared in Northern California, due to the extensive wildfires burning there.

The Carr Fire in July and August 2018 caused more than $1.5 billion (2018 USD) in property damage. The Mendocino Complex Fire burned more than Шаблон:Convert, becoming the largest complex fire in the state's history at the time, with the complex's Ranch Fire surpassing the Thomas Fire and the Santiago Canyon Fire of 1889 to become California's single-largest recorded wildfire. In September 2020, the August Complex surpassed the Mendocino Complex to become California's single-largest recorded wildfire.

In November 2018, strong winds aggravated conditions in another round of large, destructive fires that occurred across the state. This new batch of wildfires included the Woolsey Fire and the Camp Fire. The Camp Fire destroyed the town of Paradise and killed at least 85 people, with 1 still unaccounted for as of August 2, 2019. The Camp Fire destroyed more than 18,000 structures, becoming both California's deadliest and most destructive wildfire on record. AccuWeather estimated the total economic cost of the 2018 wildfires at $400 billion (2018 USD), which includes property damage, firefighting costs, direct and indirect economic losses, as well as recovery expenditures. Another study, published two years after the fires, estimated the total damages at $148.5 billion, including capital losses, health costs and indirect losses.

Causes

Several factors led to the destructiveness of the 2018 California wildfire season. A combination of increased fuel loading and atmospheric conditions influenced by global warming led to a series of destructive fires. Primary causes of wildfire vary geographically based on many factors, such as topography. For example, characteristically dense forests in the Sierra Nevada Mountains harbor fuel-driven fires while the open central valley from the south Bay Area to San Diego County are more prone to wind-driven fire over dry grasslands.

Increase in fuel

A direct contributor to the 2018 California wildfires was an increase in dead tree fuel. By December 2017, there was a record 129 million dead trees in California. Tree mortality is linked to a period during the 2010s of "anomalously warm droughts" that were severe and long-lasting enough to stand out even amongst California's existing history of wildfires and exceptionally dry conditions. One study focused on the concentrated mortality of densely populated conifers of the Sierra Nevada "found that die-off was closely tied to multi-year deep-rooting-zone drying" and that severity of that dryness can be used to predict mortality. Such drought leaves trees stressed for water, which makes them susceptible to beetle infestation and exacerbates tree mortality further.

Drought intensity lessened in California by 2017, but the effects of tree mortality linger for years. One study expresses a lack of sufficient data to confidently determine the rate of coniferous tree decay in the Sierra Nevada. Nonetheless, it is a gradual process, and the remaining dead tree matter is an optimal fuel source for future wild fires.

Atmospheric conditions

Stanford Earth System Science Professor Noah Diffenbaugh stated that atmospheric conditions for California wildfires are expected to worsen in the future because of the effects of climate change in California and that "what we're seeing over the last few years in terms of the wildfire season in California [is] very consistent with the historical trends in terms of increasing temperatures, increasing dryness, and increasing wildfire risk." Other experts agreed, saying that global warming is to blame for these extreme weather conditions. Global warming has led to higher temperatures and longer summers, creating a drier landscape that gave fires more fuel to burn longer and stronger.

Research published August 2018 predicted an increase in the number of wildfires in California as a consequence of climate change. However, from a historical perspective, it has been estimated that prior to 1850, about 4.5 million acres (17,000 km²) burned yearly, in fires that lasted for months.

Residential construction in the wildland-urban interface

A wildland–urban interface (or WUI) refers to the zone of transition between unoccupied land and human development. Communities that are within 0.5 miles (0.80  km) of the zone may also be included. These lands and communities adjacent to and surrounded by wildlands are at risk of wildfires. Since the 1990s, over 43% of new residential buildings have been constructed in this area. In some areas, the amount of new residences in those areas is 80%. In the past, when these areas burned, no residences were lost, but now residences are present, which end up being destroyed. Furthermore, a "century of successful fire suppression" performed in an attempt to protect forests and those living in WUIs has also disrupted natural cycles of disturbance and renewed succession of an ecosystem by allowing fuel to reach abnormal density levels discussed above.

Air quality

Файл:AirqualityCA2018August.jpg

Air quality of California on August 7, 2018

Northern California and the Central Valley saw drastic increases in air pollutants during the height of the July and August fires, while Southern California also experienced an increase in air pollution in August. Air quality in Northern and Central California remained poor until mid-September 2018, when fire activity was drastically diminished. However, during the November Camp Fire, air quality diminished again, with the majority of the Bay Area being subjected to air quality indexes (AQIs) of 200 and above, in the "unhealthy" region.

Wildfires

The following is a list of fires that burned more than Шаблон:Convert, or produced significant structural damage or loss of life.

Name	County	Acres	Start date	Containment date	Notes	Ref
Pleasant	Inyo	2,070	February 18, 2018	April 3, 2018	First significant wildfire of the year
Moffat	Inyo	1,265	April 19, 2018	May 21, 2018
Nees	Merced	1,756	May 2, 2018	May 17, 2018
Patterson	Riverside	1,261	May 17, 2018	May 21, 2018
Panoche	San Benito	64	June 4, 2018	June 7, 2018	3 civilians killed
Stone	Los Angeles	1,352	June 4, 2018	June 13, 2018
Airline	San Benito	1,314	June 4, 2018	June 14, 2018
Apple	Tehama	2,956	June 9, 2018	June 14, 2018	3 residential structures and 2 outbuildings destroyed
Chrome	Glenn	2,290	June 9, 2018	June 21, 2018	1 outbuilding destroyed
Lions	Madera	13,347	June 11, 2018	October 1, 2018
Planada	Merced	4,564	June 15, 2018	June 21, 2018
Yankee	San Luis Obispo	1,500	June 20, 2018	July 1, 2018
Lane	Tehama	3,716	June 23, 2018	July 4, 2018	1 injury
Pawnee	Lake	15,185	June 23, 2018	July 8, 2018	22 structures destroyed, 1 injury
Creek	Madera	1,678	June 24, 2018	July 5, 2018	4 residential structures and 7 minor structures destroyed
Waverly	San Joaquin	12,300	June 29, 2018	July 2, 2018
County	Lake, Napa, Yolo	90,288	June 30, 2018	July 14, 2018	20 structures destroyed; 1 firefighter injured
Klamathon	Siskiyou	38,008	July 5, 2018	July 16, 2018	82 structures destroyed; 3 injuries, 1 civilian killed
Valley	San Bernardino	1,350	July 6, 2018	October 22, 2018	5 injured
Holiday	Santa Barbara	113	July 6, 2018	July 11, 2018	20 structures destroyed
Pendleton Complex	San Diego	1,800	July 6, 2018	July 11, 2018	Originated as 3 separate fires; burned in Camp Pendleton
West	San Diego	504	July 6, 2018	July 11, 2018	56 structures destroyed
Georges	Inyo	2,883	July 8, 2018	July 18, 2018	This was about the time that the wildfire outbreak started and some of the worst wildfires of the season, including the Carr and Mendocino Complex, aka the Ranch Fire/ River Fire, began.
Ferguson	Mariposa	96,901	July 13, 2018	August 18, 2018	19 firefighters injured, 2 firefighters killed; 10 structures destroyed
Eagle	Modoc	2,100	July 13, 2018	July 17, 2018
Natchez	Del Norte, Siskiyou	38,134	July 15, 2018	October 30, 2018
Carr	Shasta	229,651	July 23, 2018	August 30, 2018	1,079 residences, 22 commercial structures, 503 outbuildings destroyed 190 residences, 26 commercial structures, and 63 outbuildings damaged 3 firefighters and 5 civilians killed
Cranston	Riverside	13,139	July 26, 2018	August 10, 2018	12 buildings destroyed
Mendocino Complex	Mendocino, Lake, Colusa, Glenn	459,123	July 27, 2018	September 18, 2018	The Ranch and River Fires are collectively called the Mendocino Complex Fire 157 residential buildings destroyed, 123 others destroyed 13 residential buildings and 24 other buildings damaged 1 firefighter killed, 4 firefighters injured
Whaleback	Lassen	18,703	July 27, 2018	August 7, 2018
Butte	Sutter	1,200	July 31, 2018	August 3, 2018
Donnell	Tuolumne	36,450	August 1, 2018	October 1, 2018	135 structures destroyed; 9 civilians injured
Tarina	Kern	2,950	August 3, 2018	August 6, 2018
Pendleton	San Diego	1,000	August 5, 2018	August 6, 2018	Burned in Camp Pendleton
Turkey	Monterey	2,225	August 6, 2018	August 6, 2018
Holy	Orange, Riverside	23,136	August 6, 2018	September 13, 2018	18 structures destroyed; 3 firefighters injured
Five	Kings	2,995	August 6, 2018	August 8, 2018
Hirz	Shasta	46,150	August 9, 2018	September 12, 2018
Hat	Shasta	1,900	August 9, 2018	August 16, 2018
Nelson	Solano	2,162	August 10, 2018	August 12, 2018
Stone	Modoc	39,387	August 15, 2018	August 29, 2018
Mill Creek 1	Humboldt	3,674	August 16, 2018	August 30, 2018
Front	San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara	1,014	August 19, 2018	August 29, 2018
North	Placer	1,120	September 3, 2018	September 16, 2018
Boot	Mono	6,974	September 4, 2018	September 15, 2018
Kerlin	Trinity	1,751	September 4, 2018	September 17, 2018
Delta	Shasta	63,311	September 5, 2018	October 7, 2018	Merged into the Hirz Fire; 20 structures destroyed
Snell	Napa	2,490	September 8, 2018	September 15, 2018
Charlie	Los Angeles	3,380	September 22, 2018	October 1, 2018
Alder	Tulare	4,653	October 4, 2018	December 7, 2018	Both of the Alder and Eden Fires, along with the Mountaineer, were the last fires to be taken out. All three were 100% Contained by the end of December 7.
Eden	Tulare	1,777	October 4, 2018	December 7, 2018
Branscombe	Solano	4,700	October 7, 2018	November 9, 2018	4 structures destroyed
Sun	Tehama	3,889	October 7, 2018	October 12, 2018
Mountaineer	Tulare	1,270	October 13, 2018	December 7, 2018	This fire, along with the Alder and Eden fires, were the last fires to be put out, marking the end of the fire season.
Camp	Butte	153,336	November 8, 2018	November 25, 2018	5 firefighters injured, 89 civilian deaths, 12 civilians injured, 1 civilian missing; 18,804 structures destroyed, 564 structures damaged; destroyed the town of Paradise. Costliest wildfire recorded in the modern era.
Nurse	Solano	1,500	November 8, 2018	November 27, 2018
Hill	Ventura	4,531	November 8, 2018	November 15, 2018	4 structures destroyed
Woolsey	Los Angeles, Ventura	96,949	November 8, 2018	November 22, 2018	3 civilians killed, 1,643 structures destroyed, 364 damaged

Fatalities

Файл:Woolsey Fire evacuation from Malibu on November 9, 2018.jpg

The Woolsey Fire encroaching on Malibu on November 9

On June 4, the Panoche Fire broke out, in a series of three blazes that started in the San Benito County area. While the Panoche incident was the smallest of the three fires, burning only Шаблон:Convert, the remains of three people were found in a destroyed camping trailer in the burn area. The remains were believed to belong to a mother, a toddler, and an infant.

On July 14, a Cal Fire bulldozer operator was killed while fighting the Ferguson Fire, becoming the first firefighter death of the season.

On July 23, the Carr Fire broke out after a vehicle malfunctioned. While the Carr Fire burned in rural areas of Shasta County for the first few days, it crossed the Sacramento River and entered the city limits of Redding, California on the evening of July 26. By the next morning, two firefighters and four civilians had been killed.

On July 29, a firefighter with the National Park Service was killed after a dead tree fell and struck him, while he was fighting the Ferguson Fire. He was "treated on scene, but died before he could be taken to the hospital".

On August 4, a Pacific Gas and Electric Company employee was killed in a vehicle incident while working to restore services to areas impacted by the Carr Fire.

On August 9, a Cal Fire heavy equipment mechanic was killed in a traffic incident while working at the Carr Fire.

On August 13, a firefighter was killed while fighting the Mendocino Complex Fire.

On November 8, 2018, 85 civilians were killed by the Camp Fire, while three firefighters were injured. The number dead had been listed at 87, lowered to 85 by early December when it was discovered one victim was put in several bags. Three people also died during the Woolsey Fire near Malibu.

Response efforts

Direct Relief provided emergency, firefighting and medical supplies medications to first responders and affected communities.

Verizon Wireless data throttling

In August 2018, the Santa Clara County Fire Department raised claims against Verizon Wireless that their "unlimited" data service had been throttled while the fire department was attempting to contain the Mendocino Complex Fire. The Verizon contract stated that the department's plan would be throttled down to 200 kbit/s or 600 kbit/s once the department had used 25 GB in a single month. However, the contract stated that the usage related throttling would not apply in certain emergency situations, such as wildfire containment operations. The plan remained throttled, despite the department's notification to Verizon regarding the situation.

Gallery

• Photograph of smoky sky near sunset in early August looking toward the west, in Sacramento, California. The smoke was produced by the wildfires.

  Photograph of smoky sky near sunset in early August looking toward the west, in Sacramento, California. The smoke was produced by the wildfires.

• California National Guard battles wildfires.

  California National Guard battles wildfires.

• The Bay Bridge in San Francisco, California. The photo on the left was taken November 16, 2018 and the one on the right October 14, 2018.

  The Bay Bridge in San Francisco, California. The photo on the left was taken November 16, 2018 and the one on the right October 14, 2018.

• Golden Gate Park as seen by drone during the Camp Fire

  Golden Gate Park as seen by drone during the Camp Fire

See also

• List of California wildfires
• October 2017 Northern California wildfires
• December 2017 Southern California wildfires
• Climate change in California

External links

• Current fire information Шаблон:Webarchive — California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE)
• SDSC WiFire Interactive Map — San Diego Supercomputer Center