CALIFORNIA IN FLAMES

In this photograph, a U.S. Air Force plane is dropping fire retardant on a burning hillside in the Ranch Fire in Clearlake Oaks, California. This summer, California experienced a record-breaking fire season: from the beginning of the year until mid-August, 820,000 acres across the state burned — more than twice the area that was burned by this point last year. In northern California, the Mendocino Complex Fire, which encompassed the Ranch Fire and the River Fire, grew to more than 300,000 acres, and it took several weeks for firefighters to contain it. It has become the largest fire ever recorded in California. More fires threatened California’s rural areas at that time, including the Carr Fire, which burned more than a thousand homes and caused at least eight deaths, and the Ferguson Fire. According to specialists, wildfires have become very intense in California these past few years because, among other factors, climate change has lengthened the fire season and housing has spread to fire-prone wildland areas.

fire retardant retardateur de flammes, produit ignifuge / hillside (versant d’une) colline / acre arpent (0,4 hectare) / by this point ici, à la même période / to encompass englober, comprendre / firefighter pompier / to record enregistrer, observer / to threaten menacer / at that time à ce moment-là / wildfire incendie (dévastateur), feu de forêt / to lengthen allonger / housing logement(s) ; ici, immobilier / fire-prone exposé au risque d’incendie / wildland area zone naturelle, non cultivée.