Wildfires have been raging across the whole state of California since early August. The first fire of the season, the El Dorado Fire, started burning September 5th. The blaze started because of a smoke-generating pyrotechnic used at a gender reveal party sparked near Yucaipa. 

The El Dorado fire alone has burnt 22,680 acres of land and according to the El Dorado Fire Daily Update it is mostly contained. (https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/article/7148/57007/) 

The El Dorado fire is just one of the many fires burning. Since the beginning of the year there have been over 8,100 wildfires that have burned over 3.7 million acres of California according to the California Statewide Fire Summary. There have been 85 deaths connected with these fires.

Fires are not uncommon in this area. Last year, 4.2 million acres were burned from January 1, 2019 until September 8th, 2019.

In response to the El Dorado Fire and another big fire known as the Valley Fire, California Governor Gavin Newson declared a state of emergency on September 6th.

“Governor Newsom has declared a statewide emergency due to the widespread fires and extreme weather conditions, and secured a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration to bolster the state’s emergency response to the Northern California wildfires,” the Governor’s Office released in a statement.

The fires are still spreading rapidly and firefighters are rushing to contain them. California is still under a state of emergency.