Wildfires in California have burned a record 4 million acres since the start of 2020, charring more land in the past nine months than during the previous three years combined.
The results are devastating. The more than 8,200 blazes since January have killed 31 people and destroyed more than 8,400 homes and buildings, the California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection said Sunday. The number of acres burned is more than double the previous record, set in 2018.
The fires have been stoked by searing-hot weather, tinder-dry brush left after years of drought, powerful winds and other conditions that state ...