Wildfires swept across California this weekend, prompted the closure of the southbound side of Interstate 5 north of Los Angeles on Sunday, and left a path of destruction as far north as Redding in Northern California.
A fire map shows multiple blazes tracing the spine of the state from Los Angeles to the Central Valley and onwards to Redding, raising concerns that this could be a protracted fire season in the West. The New York Times reported:
A wildfire that quickly consumed more than 14,000 acres of grasslands and brush in a mountainous area northwest of Los Angeles over the weekend signaled the start of what experts warn could be a dangerous, prolonged fire season in the West.
A wildfire near Los Angeles, referred to as the Post fire, has continued to grow and now covers almost 15,000 acres, according to Cal Fire.
Meanwhile, a separate wildfire was also burning in Sonoma County, reported on by Bay Area radio station KQED.
Just 24 hours earlier, fire risk had been characterized as “low” for the Southern California coast, highlighting the rapidly changing fire conditions in the region.
