Dozens of large wildfires burned more than 8 million acres of the American West this summer, bringing along with them smoke, ash, and unhealthy air conditions. And now deadly fires are burning in northern California. The fierce blazes that scorched through Napa and Sonoma counties in October were devastating, consuming more than 200,000 acres and claiming at least 42 lives.
If it feels like large wildfires are becoming more common these days, that’s because they are. Over the past decade, wildfires in the United States have burned an average of 6.6 million acres each year, twice the annual average during the 1990s. And the price tag for fighting them is growing as well. The federal government spent more than $2.7 billion fighting wildfires in the most recent fiscal year, exceeding the previous record of $2.1 billion, set in 2015.
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