Wildfires have burned more acres in California this year than in the previous two combined

(FOX40.COM) — California’s 2024 wildfire season is panning out to be a devastating one as total acres burned eclipses the totals from prior years, according to data from CAL FIRE.

As of Monday, over 725,000 acres have burned in California from more than 4,500 wildfires. These fires have destroyed more than 230 structures and killed one person.

California’s 2022 and 2023 wildfire seasons have a combined burned acreage total of 656,275 acres from 14,604 fires, according to CAL FIRE data.

The leading cause behind this rapid rise in acreage burned is the Park Fire, which has become California’s sixth-largest wildfire in history as it reached 368,256 acres burned.

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The Park Fire has burned more acres than 2023’s total of burned acres, which was 324,917 and has also caused more damage and destruction to structures.

One of CAL FIRE’s most vital resources, its air fleet, has been hard at work flying missions day and night to drop water and fire retardant to slow fires and protect communities.

As of July 26, CAL FIRE’s air fleet has dropped more than 13 million gallons of water and over 8.1 million gallons of retardant.

CAL FIRE operates the world’s largest civil aerial firefighting fleet with more than 60 fixed-winged and rotary aircraft including the Sikorsky S-70i Firehawk and the Grumman S-2T airtanker.

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