After tearing through nearly 250,000 acres in Northern and Southern California, the devastating Camp and Woolsey Fires are creeping toward full containment. But their destruction may not be over: They’ve so far killed 82 people, with hundreds still missing; and though they’ve destroyed over 14,000 homes, just as many are still being threatened.
While the San Joaquin Valley and foothill areas have seen their fair share of big, destructive fires, some of the deadliest and most damaging in California’s history have happened to the north and south of us. But does that mean tragic fires like those can’t happen here?
We spoke about this with Jim McDougald, Division Chief for Protection and Planning with CalFire in Fresno and Kings Counties. Listen to the interview for some history on the worst fires to hit Central California, the ingredients that made the Camp and Woolsey Fires so destructive, and why fires of that magnitude are unlikely to happen in this part of California.
