On January 7th, a group of wildfires destroyed many homes and businesses, leaving many without power. Before understanding the latest fires, it is important to understand wildfires in general. Most were caused by fallen power lines or human involvement.
The dry climate affects the wildfires, giving more land for the wildfires to burn, and the droughts make the land even drier. California is the number one wildfire state in the United States, with 7,364 wildfires and 262 wildfires, more than the second highest state, Texas. The recent fires in the Eaton and Palisades are in the top ten with a destructive rate of 14,021 and 23,707 acres. This is only behind the camp wildfire which burned 153,336 acres.
Along with the fires, several power outages were caused on purpose to prevent them. If a power pole falls, it causes the fires, making it less likely that there would be more fires. These began around 6 p.m. on January 7th. They left many homes in the dark for the duration of the fires.
Along with the fires, the power outage caused some families to evacuate due to a lack of knowledge.
“It was scary because we had a lack of knowledge,” said Ryder Hall, a Rosemont student.
Most people evacuated on the 8th of January, after fire warnings came out in the early morning. most people evacuate away from the fires to a friend’s house, towns towards the north, and motels.
Most people return to their home (if they weren’t burned down) a week after the fires started, when school started. though some people were unable to return home because of the smoke around the house.
“I was relieved because my house didn’t burn down and excited that we got to stay in motels,” Cameron Chang, 7th grade.
The first week back at school was online because a tree fell on a water line, this lasted for the week of the 14-17. with the next week, the students returned home.
First on January 16, it got 55% contained. Then two days later it reached 73% contained. then finally, after 24 days of the fires, they became 100% contained
“I felt a little nervous and I felt scared because we didn’t have a lot of time.”
