Understanding fire science and fire behavior will help you better prepare your home and your family for wildfire. It’s not a question of “if” a wildfire will impact Yolo County, but rather “when” and how prepared a home can be when fire strikes.
Fires in California are Changing: How and Why
Fires in California are hotter and more destructive than ever before. The typical fire season in California is from June through October. With changing conditions, a longer, sometimes year-round fire season is the new normal.
Experts point to rising fuel loads in wildland areas due to fire suppression, climate change, and rising populations in the wildland-urban interface as the cause of increased fire intensity and activity in the state. The increase in fuel loads in wildlands is often blamed on the 1910 decision by the U.S. Forest Service to implement a fire suppression program. However, climate change is also to blame for extreme wildfires. With rising temperatures and decreasing rainfall, fuels in California are drier. Pair those conditions with record-breaking heat waves, fuels in wildland areas are becoming very dry and highly combustible.
What is the Wildland-Urban Interface?
- What is the WUI? (U.S Fire Administration)
- National Park Service: Wildland Urban Interface
- California Fire Safe Council: How Homes Burn
