Wildfires have gone from being a seasonal occurrence to a constant risk across California, and are becoming larger and more unpredictable amid the worsening impacts of climate change.
This change was exemplified by devastating wildfires that burned across the Los Angeles area last January.
California is also coming off a poor winter, marked by a lack of snowfall. U.S. Forest Service Meteorologist Julia Ruthford noted the statewide snowpack is at just 14% of average, with the northern and central Sierra sitting at just 6% and 15% of normal, respectively.
These conditions, combined with warmer and drier weather, leaves the state vulnerable as the year progresses.
A recent report released by the National Interagency Fire Center said Northern California faces an above normal potential during June for large portions of the area. This will then expand further in July and August.
The report also notes that the northern part of the state typically sees 11 large fires in June, and 15 to 17 during the following two months.
Preparations are constantly underway for the peak of what has become the “fire year,” from local protections to resource mobilizations on the state and federal level.
Cal Fire Battalion Chief David Acuña joined CapRadio’s Andrew Garcia on Insight to discuss how the state is gearing up.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Interview highlights
What kind of fire activity have we seen so far this year?
We're always aware of what's going on across the state. In terms of the number of wildfires, it’s about average. If you look at our website we have a list of the last five years… on average it’s around 21,000 acres. We’re currently at 18,000. Obviously, last year for 2025, we had a much larger number at 63,000, but that’s abnormal — we’re not generally going to see that, particularly this early in the year.
However, it does back up the need for us to utilize the term peak “fire year” rather than the antiquated “fire season” that we used to use.
Has there been any noticeable differences between Northern California, Southern California, or other parts of the state when it comes to wildfire?
Every area has its own unique fuels, weather, and topography. With Cal Fire monitoring what’s happening from Siskiyou to San Diego, it's quite different. As you can imagine, what affects the fuels in Siskiyou County is quite a bit different than what happens in San Diego County.
However, as an overall awareness, our Wildfire Forecast & Threat Integration Center (WFTIIC) keeps an eye on all of the fuels, the weather, and determines where we need to move resources around. If there is a higher risk, let's say in Southern California, we'll move resources from the north. Vice versa, if there's a lightning bust that's expected in the north, then we'll move resources from the south. Wherever it's needed, we'll send it to the highest risk.
We've talked about this year’s poor snowpack previously on Insight. But if we go even larger, what kind of impact does climate change have on wildfires?
Climate change has really been interesting because we have, in general, been receiving more rain than we had traditionally in the last 30 years. But what that's led to is [an] increased amount of grass growth. For example, here in 2026, we've had a few times where we've had rain and then dry. Particularly in Central and Northern California. And what that's done is allowed additional grass crops to grow.
One way to look at it is we have a grass crop. It grows [and] dies, and it lays over. The next year, grows, dies, lays over. Not only has it been happening on a yearly basis, but also in August 2023, we had a tropical storm go right up California and that led to a bumper crop then as well. All of these layers have formed what's essentially a haystack on the lands across California, and so once a fire burns, it burns very intensely. Even if there's green grass on top, there's layers and layers of dead fuels underneath.
What kind of conditions and factors does Cal Fire take into account while preparing throughout the year?
Thankfully we work very closely with our Forest Service partners, and wildfire is very simple physics. It’s fuel, weather, and topography. That’s all it really has to do with. By utilizing the information on, what are the fuels doing — particularly the lightest fuels? What is the weather? All of those are processes that we've received from the National Weather Service to help us understand where the risks are, and where to move resources.
As we head into the peak of the fire year, what kind of preparations has the agency made so far?
It's been really interesting to see that we're fortunate to have the support of the state, and that we've been able to start bringing on our former Fire Fighter 1 seasonal employees and transitioning them into Fire Fighter 2 permanent employees. We need to have our brush engines available 365 days a year, so it's very important for us to have that staffing to be able to react at a moment’s notice, whether it’s July or January.
A lot of preparation also comes down to educating people about what they could do to help prevent risks, particularly for those that live in fire zones. The state has put significant resources into home hardening and defensible space. How do those types of measures help mitigate risk?
What we're focusing on is to have people look at our website, and they'll find resources there on how to prevent starting another wildfire if they are doing grass work. Don't do it in the middle of the day, or if they're going to be working with welding one of their fences, they have to do that using significant caution.
Having said that, there's also steps for home hardening. Defensible space, particularly in Zone 0 — the first five feet outside the home. And then, looking on for what preparation steps can people take. They need to know two ways out of their neighborhood in case one way gets blocked. They need to know: how do they evacuate? Where would they go? Where [are] the people shelters, the small animal [and] large animal shelters, livestock shelters?
And then, also how to pack a go-bag for your family, for your medically frail people, as well as for your pets. All these are very important to have ready to go at a moment's notice.
You can hear more from Acuña, as well as from U.S. Forest Service Meteorologist Julia Ruthford and Wildland Fire Specialist Kristen Allison, here.
