California governor links wildfire increase to climate change

Elementary, my dear Watson.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/18/california-major-wildfire-mostly-contained-firefighters

Associated Press in Escondido, California
Sunday 18 May 2014

Drought-stricken California is preparing for its worst wildfire season ever, the state's governor said on Sunday.

Governor Jerry Brown told ABC's This Week that the nearly dozen wildfires that this week caused more than $20m in damage mark only the beginning. The state has 5,000 firefighters and has appropriated $600m to battling blazes, but that may not be enough.

"We're getting ready for the worst," Brown said. "Now, we don't want to anticipate before we know, but we need a full complement of firefighting capacity."

He added that thousands of additional firefighters may be needed in the future, saying California is on the "front lines" of climate change that is making its weather hotter.

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"Normally, I don't even put wildfire gear in my vehicle until the end of April. This year I never took it out," Kirk Kushen, battalion chief of the Kern County Fire Department, said at a base camp in Escondido. "We never really completed the 2013 fire season. It's been a continuation."

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At least 10 fires spanning 39 square miles chewed a destructive path through San Diego County, destroying 11 houses, an 18-unit apartment complex and two businesses. A badly burned body was found in a transient camp; one firefighter suffered heat exhaustion.

The last of tens of thousands of evacuees returned home on Saturday after firefighters scoured charred hillsides north of San Diego to guard against a resurgence of flames that ripped through the region.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has responded to more than 1,500 fires this year, compared to about 800 in an average year.

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Battalion Chief Kevin Taylor of the Paso Robles Fire Department in central California usually doesn't leave home until late July to assist other agencies during the fire season. He was dispatched to the Los Angeles area in January and led a crew that began work near San Diego on Thursday.

"There hasn't been a break," said Taylor, as he ate lunch under a tree, under orders to be ready to move on three minutes' notice. "It's almost a 12-month fire season."