‘The threat is real’: Officials offer grim outlook for the 2022 fire season

The warning comes as much of California heads into a dangerous heat wave, with temperatures predicted to soar as high as 106 degrees in Sacramento on Friday and 117 in Borrego Springs Saturday.

By

National News

June 10, 2022 - 12:58 PM

A firefighter fights hotpots in a burned canyon behind homes destroyed by the Coastal Fire in Laguna Niguel, California, May 12, 2022. (Apu Gomes/AFP/Getty Images/TNS)

LOS ANGELES — Southern California is facing a potentially treacherous wildfire season this year, as climate change, drought and extreme heat conspire to bake vegetation and prime the landscape for burning, officials say.

Standing beneath the blazing sun at the start of a triple-digit heat wave, fire officials from various state, county and federal agencies gathered in Los Angeles on Thursday to warn residents about the current conditions and what the coming months may hold.

“We know the drought is here. We know the fuels are flammable. We know now, with water restrictions, the vegetation around our homes are becoming flammable,” said Dustin Gardner, chief of the Ventura County Fire Department. “So we know the threat is here, and we know the threat is real.”

Related
October 18, 2021
July 16, 2021
June 17, 2021
June 17, 2021