This year’s fire season for Cal Fire’s Nevada-Yuba-Placer unit has been much closer to average, compared to last year. Public Information Officer Lynn Tolmachoff says although they’ve fought more vegetation and timber blazes, or 378, they’ve been much smaller, burning 12-hundred 22 acres. That compares to 339 wildfires last year, but around 45-hundred acres were scorched, with about half due to the Lowell Fire….

click to listen to Lynn Tolmachoff

Around 12-hundred acres also went up in smoke in 2014. Tolmachoff says one of the wettest winters in recent years kept vegetation damp much longer, compared to last year, which was one of the driest on record. But she says despite some heavy weekend rains, we’re not out of the woods yet…

click to listen to Lynn Tolmachoff

Tolmachoff says there has also been a little more state funding for firefighting staff and equipment this year, keeping more fires contained quicker. She also credits more vigilance from homeowners creating better defensible space.