Since October 8, more than a dozen large wildfires have burned across Northern California. Dozens of schools closed. Thousands of people fled their homes, many of which caught fire. At least 21 people are dead and hundreds more are missing.
The fires spread quickly. In the first 48 hours, the blazes consumed more than 100,000 acres of land. That's about four times larger than the area of San Francisco, California. High winds made the fires difficult to contain. Many people had little warning before disaster struck. Two days after the fires began, President Donald Trump declared the affected areas a federal disaster zone.
Conditions were ripe for wildfires this year. Dead, dry plants burn easily, says Daniel Berlant. He's the assistant deputy director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. “We saw a lot of plant growth over a very wet winter,” says Berlant. “But a summer drought killed much of that growth, providing fuel for the fires.”