Although the number of wildfires Cal Fire’s Nevada-Yuba-Placer Unit has responded to, so far this year, is only a bit higher than a year ago, acreage is significantly up. From January through October third, the Unit has put out 414 fires, up five from a year ago. But this year’s fires have scorched over five-thousand acres, compared to around 38-hundred in 2020. The River Fire is the likely reason, which destroyed over 26-hundred acres in Nevada as well as Placer Counties. Meanwhile, Unit Division Chief Jim Mathias says it’s helped that there are cooler temperatures with the strong north winds that have meant a Red Flag Warning until around seven Tuesday evening…

click to listen to Chief Mathias

Mathias says north winds are usually hotter and drier…

click to listen to Chief Mathias

Mathias says this is the driest fire season he can remember, with only a few wet years in the last decade.