The fast-moving brush fire tearing through the Santa Clarita Valley this weekend is part of a larger trend: Wildfire seasons in the western United States are lasting longer and burning more land, according to a recent report by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Over 29,000 wildfires have scorched more than 2.6 million acres of land already this year, and the peak of the fire season hasn’t hit yet, according to the report published last week.
Last year’s fire season was the most severe on record, burning more than 10 million acres — roughly twice the size of Massachusetts.
Rising global temperatures and unrelenting drought contribute to the longer fire seasons. Average annual temperatures rose by 1.9 degrees Fahrenheit in the last decade, and snowpacks are now melting up to four weeks earlier in the year, leaving landscapes drier and causing fire seasons to start sooner.
While Alaska’s wildfire season usually begins in April or May, this year the state saw its first flames in late February, according to the report. Warmer conditions in the fall mean that the fires burn longer too.
“It used to be you could expect the fire season to begin in April and wrap up before Thanksgiving,” said Mike Ferris, a public information officer who has worked with the U.S. Forest Service for 39 years. “Now it seems like the fire season is year-round.”
If global temperatures continue to increase, the National Wildlife Federation predicts, the area of forests burned is projected to double in size by the end of the century.
Lack of rainfall is another contributing factor. The last decade’s drought in the western U.S. has created the driest conditions in 800 years, according to the most recent National Climate Assessment study. The study also predicts that droughts in the Southwest as well as heat waves everywhere will continue to become more intense, leaving dead plants and dry debris prone to flames.
Warmer weather conditions accelerate the growth of invasive weeds that act as fire fuel and lead to insect infestations that kill trees, adding to the stockpile of flammable material.
Erratic weather patterns and more severe thunderstorms make lightning strikes a more frequent source of wildfire ignition.
“Don’t get me wrong, fire is a natural and beneficial part of many forest ecosystems,” said Amanda Staudt, director of the Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, in a video for the National Wildlife Foundation. “We need to allow some fires to burn and thus return our forests to more natural conditions with trees of different ages, lower fuel loads and more space between the trees.”
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Aurora Harris Heller, 62, left, comforts the owner of a home destroyed in the Sand fire in Santa Clarita.
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The charred remains of a statue stand on a drive on North Iron Canyon Road, where two homes were destroyed in the Sand fire in Santa Clarita.
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Firefighters battle a spot fire along Soledad Canyon Road near Agua Dulce on Tuesday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Firefighters are enveloped in thick smoke while working along Soledad Canyon Road near Agua Dulce on Tuesday.
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Two charred vehicles can be seen on Iron Canyon Road, near where a person died when the Sand fire swept through Santa Clarita.
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One of two homes destroyed by the Sand fire is reduced to rubble and ash on Iron Canyon Road in Santa Clarita.
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Aurora Harris Heller is distraught over the death of her neighbor, who was killed when the Sand fire tore through Iron Canyon Road in Santa Clarita.
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Riverside firefighter Mark Powell douses a smoldering structure on Iron Canyon Road in Santa Clarita.
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Robert Heller walks back with his neighbor’s horses after evacuation orders were lifted for the residents of Iron Canyon Road in Santa Clarita.
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Heat from flames pushes firefighters back as they monitor a flare-up along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton on Monday.
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A helicopter drops fire retardant on a ridge above Placerita Canyon Road in Santa Clarita as firefighters work to gain the upper hand on the Sand fire on Monday.
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Los Angeles County firefighters Kevin Bowers, left, and Pat Hanrahan are watchful as a plume of smoke builds in the mountains along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton on Monday.
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A firefighting jumbo jet drops fire retardant on a ridgeline above Placerita Canyon Road in Santa Clarita on Monday.
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A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy checks identification of residents returning to their homes on Sand Canyon Road on Monday after evacuations were lifted.
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A burned-out machine shop destroyed in the Sand fire sits below a plume of smoke along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton on Monday.
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Smoke blocks out the sun as flames consume dry brush near Soledad Canyon Road in the mountains near Acton on Monday.
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Burned-out vehicles are left behind on Oak Springs Canyon Road in Canyon Country.
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Los Angeles County firefighter Ralph Solis of Engine 127 sprays foam onto a tree still smoldering along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton on Monday.
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Stephanie Spalter looks at the remnants of a machine shop that was destroyed in the Sand fire near Acton on Monday.
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Fire flares up in brush along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton on Monday.
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Los Angeles County firefighter engineer Pat Hanrahan from Engine 208 works to put out a smoldering fire burning in equipment behind a home along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton on Monday.
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Los Angeles County firefighter Roman Legaspi from Engine 208 works to douse hot spots behind buildings along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton on Monday.
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The husks of mailboxes litter the charred ground on Soledad Canyon Road near Acton on Monday.
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U.S. Forest Service firefighters Edward Perez, left, Jovanny Cruz and Derek Meyers work to douse hot spots.
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Los Angeles County fire crews put out hot spots in a storage building that burned along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton on Monday.
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An intense fire left behind burned remnants along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton.
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Nearly 3,000 firefighters converge on Golden Valley High School, the Sand fire command center, for deployment orders in Santa Clarita on Monday morning.
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Smoke from the Sand fire obscures the view in Santa Clarita on Monday morning.
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A helicopter makes a water drop on the Sand fire along Placerita Canyon Road near Santa Clarita on Sunday night. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Firefighters remove brush as they battle the Sand fire along Placerita Canyon Road near Santa Clarita on Sunday night.
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Firefighters battle the Sand fire along Placerita Canyon Road near Santa Clarita on Sunday night.
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Onlookers gather at a shopping mall along Golden Valley Road in Santa Clarita to watch the Sand fire burn in the hills above the city on Sunday night.
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Evacuated residents watch as the Sand fire burns through the San Gabriel Mountains on Sunday.
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A pall of smoke from the Sand fire hangs over the desert mountains as the sun sets near Acton.
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An L.A. County helicopter makes a water drop along Placerita Canyon Road as the Sand fire burns in the San Gabriel Mountains on Sunday.
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Traffic from a shopping mall along Golden Valley Road in Santa Clarita is diverted away from the flames of the Sand fire as it burns in the hills above the city Sunday night.
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A firefighter keeps watch on the path of the Sand fire as it burns out of control along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton.
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A firefighter sets a backfire as the Sand fire burns out of control along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton on Sunday.
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The Sand fire burns along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton, threatening homes and other structures in its way.
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The Sand fire burns along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton.
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The wildfire in the Santa Clarita Valley area has grown to more than 22,000 acres, prompting new evacuations.
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A firefighter keeps watch on the path of the Sand fire as it burns out of control along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton.
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The brush fire in the Santa Clarita Valley area has burned 18 homes.
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A firetruck is parked in front of a home in the Santa Clarita Valley.
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A firefighting helicopter drops water on the Sand fire as it burns out of control along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton on Sunday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Firefighters battle the Sand fire along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton on Sunday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Ryan Alaniz, 6, waits for his parents to load the family car and evacuate the KOA Campground along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton on Sunday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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A firefighter sets backfires along a ridge as the Sand fire burns out of control along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton on Sunday.
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A firefighting helicopter hovers close to the flames from the Sand fire as it burns out of control along Soledad Canyon Road near Acton on Sunday.
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The husk of a burned-out residence sits along Little Tujunga Canyon Road.
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Vehicles and other objects consumed by the Sand Fire litter Little Tujunga Canyon Road.
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Sand Canyon evacuees wait to be allowed back to their homes.
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Firefighters put out hot spots at Sable Ranch in Santa Clarita after the Sand fire swept through the area on Sunday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Firefighters chop down burned vegetation and put out hot spots at Sable Ranch in Santa Clarita on Sunday.
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A charred tree stands over the ruins of a home along Little Tujunga Canyon Road near Santa Clarita.
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A burned-out shell is all that remains of a home along Little Tujunga Canyon Road near Santa Clarita after the Sand fire swept through the area on Sunday.
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A smoldering home sits off the 26700 block of Iron Canyon Road on Sunday morning.
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Los Angeles County firefighter Anders Heinstedt mops up hot spots at Sable Ranch in Santa Clarita on Sunday. The ranch is used for movie and TV production. Several of the sets, including one for Fox’s “Utopia,” were destroyed by the Sand fire.
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Buildings and cars are drenched in Phos-Chek, a pink fire retardant, at Sable Ranch in Santa Clarita.
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Rob Chauvie says he was helping his sister evacuate during the Sand fire when he was doused with Phos-Chek, a fire-retardant, in Santa Clarita.
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Sand fire evacuees pass the time at Hart High School in Newhall on Sunday.
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A house burns along Little Tujunga Canyon Road as the Sand fire rages near Santa Clarita.
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AJ Moberg, 15, waters down the roof of his family’s house Saturday as a plane dumping fire retardant flies overhead.
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A burned van and trailer sit along Little Tujunga Canyon Road.
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A truck and a house burn along Little Tujunga Canyon Road.
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Seth Moberg, 16, gathers belongings from his family’s house on Sand Canyon Road as the Sand fire approaches in Santa Clarita.
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AJ Moberg, 15, waters down the roof of his family’s house on Sanf Canyon Road as the Sand fire approaches in Santa Clarita on Saturday.
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A view of the massive cloud from the Sand fire, as seen from Alameda and 6th streets in Los Angeles.
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Women evacuate horses along Sand Canyon Road as the Sand fire approaches in Santa Clarita. Hundreds of other animals also were evacuated.
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Flames from the Sand fire burn a hillside near Little Tujunga Canyon on Saturday.
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AJ Moberg, 15, waters down the roof of his family’s house on Sand Canyon Road.
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Charlie Erasmo takes pictures of water-dropping helicopters as they come in for water to battle the Sand fire in Santa Clarita on Saturday.
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A water-dropping helicopter makes a run as the Sand fire burns in Santa Clarita on Saturday morning.
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L.A. County firefighter Joshua Miramontes with Engine 82 works the fast-growing brush fire east of Santa Clarita.
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A helicopter drops water on the fast-growing brush fire east of Santa Clarita. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
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The Santa Clarita wildfire is visible from the Top of Topanga Overlook.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) Because people have tried for decades to suppress all wildfires, even harmless ones, Staudt said, unsafe levels of combustible materials have built up in forests. Drought and rising temperatures have increased the risk that this natural fuel will catch fire, creating blazes that are bigger and burn longer.
There was an annual average of 140 large (more than 1,000 acres) wildfires in the 1980s, but that increased to 250 per year in the 2000s, according to a study published in Nature Communications last year.
Others caution that we don’t have enough data to know for sure whether these bigger fires are the result of man-made climate change. Natural long-term atmospheric changes also affect drought and fire size, said Eric Kasischke, a professor of Geographical Sciences at the University of Maryland.
“These atmospheric patterns occur at cycles of seven to 20 years. It takes a long time to figure out what is impacting these things,” he said.
But the high cost is certain. The U.S. Department of the Interior has exceeded its wildfire budget six times in 15 years, and last year’s fire season cost the country $2.1 billion.
“We urgently need to address the runaway growth of fire suppression costs,” the Interior report said.
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