California Wildfires

The King Fire, east of Sacramento in California, has now charred 90,000 acres and burned at least 32 structures including 10 homes. It is now 35% contained thanks to a cool, moist weekend. However, the next two days will be critical in its containment since weather conditions have changed back to windy and warm. ... Nevertheless, the month of October has seen many of the worst wildfire events in California history. It is near the end of the dry season and traditionally the strongest Santa Ana and Diablo wind events (offshore flow) occur. This was the case during the state’s largest and deadliest wild fires on record: the Cedar Fire in October 2003, (see table of ‘Top 20’ above) and the Oakland/Berkeley Hills fire of October 1991 which was the costliest and deadliest wild fire in modern U.S. history. Although only 1,200 acres burned, 3,000 homes were destroyed, 25 lives lost, and over $1 billion in damage was caused.
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