The historical drought in the American West related to climate change is making the fight against forest fires more difficult to fight.
The Alisal fire in the Santa Ynez Mountains West of Santa Barbara has grown as little as 68 square miles by Thursday morning and firefighting containment has soared to 41% from five% 24 hours earlier.
Improved conditions enabled authorities Thursday night to re-open US 101, the region’s main highway, and a railroad line adjacent to the freeway.
They were closed on Monday.
In its original assessment of the damage, the Santa Barbara County Fire Department said three homes and two annexes were destroyed out of more than 400 homes threatened by the fire.
The fire broke out on Monday afternoon amid violent winds and spread quickly along the mountainside, cutting across freeways and railroad carriageways to the beach below.
Since then, fire fighting weather has improved considerably, so aircraft and helicopters have been able to provide rehab and water to the fire.
Scientists say that climate change has resulted in the West being much warmer and drier the last 30 years, with more extreme weather and wildfires becoming more frequent and destructive.
2019 California wildfires
The 2019 wildfire season was a fire season in California, United States. As of December 22, 2019, over 7,860 fires have been recorded according to Cal Fire and the US Forest Service, (wikipedia)
Thomas Fire
The Thomas Fire was a massive wildfire that affected Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, and one of multiple wildfires that ignited in southern California in December 2017. (wikipedia)
Santa Barbara County Fire Department
The Santa Barbara County Fire Department provides fire protection and emergency response services for the unincorporated areas of Santa Barbara County, California, (wikipedia)
Woolsey Fire
The Woolsey Fire was a wildfire that burned in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties of the U.S. state of California. The fire ignited on November 8, 2018 and burned 96,949 acres of land. (wikipedia)
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, (wikipedia)
California wildfires
This is a partial and incomplete list of California wildfires. California has dry, windy, (wikipedia)
Nancy Reagan
Nancy Davis Reagan was an American film actress and first lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989. She was the second wife of President Ronald Reagan. Reagan was born in New York City. (wikipedia)
Pacific Gas and Electric Company
The Pacific Gas and Electric Company is an American investor-owned utility with publicly traded stock. The company is headquartered in the Pacific Gas & Electric Building, in San Francisco, (wikipedia)
