I went out on my front porch just about fifteen minutes ago to sit in the shade and do some grading but the air was so smoky I had to retreat back inside. I live in Claremont, about 25 miles north of the Norco/Corona area where a wildfire is raging out of control. Earlier I went for a run and the air had been clear. Yesterday evening I was at Mount San Antonio College watching my daughter run in a track meet and could see the distinctive brownish-greyish smoke rising in the distance.
The fire, which broke out around 6:12 p.m. Saturday, remains at 15 percent containment.
Firefighters received reports of trees on fire in Chino. Nearly 335 firefighters were called to the scene and two water-dropped helicopters and air tankers were deployed.
The fire quickly spread over to Norco, and mandatory evacuations were in place for residents living on Bluff, Homestead and Stagecoach roads. There were no reports of damaged structures.
Cal Fire, the Riverside County Fire Department and the Corona Fire Department, among other agencies, battled the blaze, which has been dubbed the "Highway Fire." The thick vegetation in the area hasn't burned for decades. ABC 7 Los Angeles
I was born and raised in California and we are used to wildfires, but what used to be a fire season that began in late September and October, and would last for a few months when enough rain had fallen to mitigate the danger, is now a never ending, year round phenomenon.
In a September 2014 interview, Ken Pimlott, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Director, spoke with the Washington Post.
. . . Pimlott said his agency has fought almost 5,000 fires this year, a thousand more than the five-year average. Over the last five years, CalFire has battled an average of 3,951 fires between Jan. 1 and Sept. 20. This year, the agency has fought 4,974 fires throughout the state.
In truth, the dry conditions mean fire season never stops. State fire fighters started the year fighting a 330-acre fire in Humboldt County, one of the wettest counties in the continental United States.
“We’ve been in year-round fire season conditions since April or so of 2013. We haven’t been out of fire season for a year and a half and quite honestly don’t anticipate going out of fire season this year unless we see a significant change in the weather,” Pimlott said.
Fortunately an evacuation order for 300 homes has been lifted this morning, although the fire is only 15% contained and with shifting winds hampering fire fighters in the tinder dry Prado Basin, this story is far from over.
Meteorologists are predicting a chance of light rain midweek so this is good news. The bad news is that we are only half-way through April and any rain we do get will only provide temporary relief. With prolonged drought and record high temperatures, we should be in for a long, dry summer.