Wildfires are already burning in California, New Mexico and Arizona, fueled by severe drought in the West.
According to the latest numbers, 85% of California is already in a severe, extreme or exceptional drought. This time last year, only 12% of the state was in a drought.
“We have all of this carryover of unburned fuel,” said Tiffany Davila, public affairs officer at the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management. “Fuel that didn’t burn last year is now likely to burn this year.”
She told KCBS Radio that the drought is already impacting much of the West, and that fire departments are trying to do as many prescribed burns, and make as many fire breaks as possible heading into the summer months.
Davila said that if homeowners haven't done it already, now is the time to make sure the area around their property is clear of brush and dead trees.
“Create that buffer zone between your home and a wildfire because, especially in our wildland urban interfaces where we have the communities that need that wildland, that’s where we see a lot of our activity,” she noted.
