Why the California wildfires are spreading so quickly - Joziah German

In California, three wildfires are spreading across the land at terrifying rates. The fire in Northern California, at its fastest, is spreading more than a football field a second. The reason these fires are moving so quickly is that there is a combination of strong offshore winds and extremely dry conditions, making a perfect climate for a wildfire to form. Winds were already beginning to ease starting Sunday, but new rounds of winds are still coming, bringing more dangerous conditions. There is still a lot of dry vegetation available for these fires to burn. Over the past month, most of California has received less than 5% of its normal rainfall and hasn't really seen much rain this fall. The terrain also makes it hard for firefighters to take on these fires. California, in general, is full of hills and canyons, and those canyons can catalyze fires. This essentially makes it impossible for firefighters to access areas by truck too. Steep hillsides cannot be reached by vehicles, so crews had to approach areas on foot. Overall, everyone in the state is working to take out these fires and lose the least amount of people and land.

This article created by Ralph Ellis, CNN, was published Saturday, the day that one of the fires reached its fastest growth rate. Prior to this article, I had seen on social media all these people saying pray for California, and after I looked it up I knew I had to write about it in my blog. These fires in California remind me of the Great Peshtigo Fire in the Wisconsin countryside. That fire left more than 1,500 dead, making it the most fatal fire in U.S. history. Both fires went on for multiple days if not weeks before they were finally calmed, and I think if the fires in California are not stopped, it could soon turn into another Peshtigo fire that kills thousands. The article was written for any American citizen misunderstanding why these fires are spreading so fast. This article is also negative in terms of hope because Ralph's reasoning for why the fires are spreading so rapidly are all reasons that humans have no control over; Steep hills, not enough rain, climate, and dry air are examples of his explanation. This article was written and is important to our lives because it explains that we need to figure out another way to stop these fires from burning away. By having no control over these fires, it is putting people in serious danger. 

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/09/us/wildfires-why-they-spread-so-quickly-wcx/index.html