Story at a glance
- The Bobcat Wildfire has been burning since early September and prompted thousands to evacuate.
- It is one of the nearly 30 active fires raging in California.
With wildfires in the Northern California region continuing to burn, the Southern region of the state is enduring similarly dangerous conditions with the Bobcat Fire raging in Los Angeles County northeast of Los Angeles.
Cal Fire and the Los Angeles Fire Department note that while the Bobcat Fire has been active since Sept. 6, dry temperatures and windy conditions in conjunction with a heavy fuel load have enabled the flames to scorch about 106,179 acres — making it one of the largest fires in Los Angeles history.
As of Monday night, the fire is only 13 percent contained, with its cause still under investigation. So far, flames have ravaged parts of the San Gabriel Wilderness Area, Pleasant View Ridge Wilderness Area, and hovers near the Angeles National Forest and Monrovia Wilderness Preserve.
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In addition to scorching flora around the Southern California region, the Bobcat Fire has also decimated or damaged about 85 structures, resulting in roughly 4,000 residents being forced to evacuate, according to USAToday.
“We’re still in the thick of a good firefight,” Andrew Mitche, a U.S. Forest Service public information officer reportedly said to the Los Angeles Times.
The Bobcat Fire is another unfortunate incident in a devastating wildfire season for the West Coast. Firefighters in the Golden State are battling 27 major fires, and have faced at least 7,900 wildfires since the beginning of 2020.
Throughout this active wildfire season, more than 3.6 million acres of California land have been torched, along with 6,400 structures. Intense volumes of smoke churning into the atmosphere have given way to apocalyptic orange and red skies in California and Oregon, with residual haze even drifting east into Europe.
And 26 people have lost their lives due to the fires.
While temperatures are forecasted to remain high, further exacerbating dangerous conditions, the marine layer that drifts along the California coast has deepened, according to Cal Fire, and will introduce denser, more humid air to a parched atmosphere.
There is also a chance for northward winds, which could continue to fan wildfire flames. Historically, September and October see particularly deadly wildfires in California, leading authorities to advise citizens of impacted areas to not let their guards down and continue to prevent wildfires.
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