California wildfires: the biggest fires currently burning in the state - Los Angeles Times

As smoke from the Walker fire drifted west into Butte County early Thursday morning, some residents started to worry.

The smell frightened many in a community that, less than a year ago, lost more than 80 people in the Camp fire.

In less than two hours, the Butte County Emergency Command Center received at least 15 calls from residents who smelled smoke from Gridley to Oroville because of the almost 50,000-acre wildfire burning to the northeast.

“This is drift smoke from the Walker fire burning in Plumas County, and is no cause for concern here,” the Cal Fire Butte County office wrote on Facebook at 2:14 a.m.

“It was very strong in Paradise,” one resident responded. “Just what I never ever want to smell again.”

“PTSD,” another person commented.

At this point last year, wildfires had burned more than 1.2 million acres in California, hundreds of homes had been destroyed and at least 12 people had been killed. And that was only the beginning of California’s deadliest and most destructive wildfire season on record.

California has seen far fewer fires than at this time last year. But officials are cautioning residents and reminding them that historically, September and October are the worst months for wildfires in the state.

It’s the time of year when offshore weather patterns typically bring hotter, drier and windier conditions to the area, drying out fuels and increasing the probability of ignition, said Capt. Tony Imbrenda, a spokesman for the L.A. County Fire Department.

In other words, there’s still plenty of time for this year’s fires to rival last year’s.

“The weather is such that it could support that type of fire season,” Imbrenda said. “So whether or not it’s going to happen, it remains to be seen, but we always prepare for the worst.”

Here are the fires larger than 500 acres burning in California, based on data from InciWeb and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. This list will be updated.

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