Why the Wildfires of 2018 Have Been So Ferocious
It’s the heat, not the humidity.
Updated on August 10 at 10:06 p.m. ET
How bad is California’s current fire season?
Numbers don’t seem to capture it. The Mendocino Complex Fire is the largest wildfire in the state’s history, with nearly 500 square miles burned. The Holy Fire has forced 20,000 people to leave their homes. Sixteen other blazes, requiring 14,000 firefighters, are devouring woodlands elsewhere in California.
Some of the “smaller” fires this year would have once made history. The Carr Fire, a massive blaze that has killed eight people, is already the sixth-most destructive fire in the state’s history.
“There aren’t
