SACRAMENTO, Calif — The NWS Sacramento has issued a Red Flag Warning starting at 11 p.m. Tuesday, June 16 that will last through 1 p.m. on Thursday, June 18. The warning stretches from Redding to Modesto, touching parts of 14 counties in the Sacramento and Central Valleys.
Northern California has already experienced a number of wildfires this year, which prompted evacuations and led to damaged structures — including the more than 5,000 acre Grant Fire in Sacramento County and the more than 1,800 acre Quail Fire in Solano County.
“People need to be extra cautious and vigil and pay attention to these red flag warnings and fire weather watches and take them seriously,” said Cal Fire Battalion Chief Amy Head.
The lack of precipitation has brought dry vegetation across Northern California. This mixed with hot and high wind events can bring about dangerous fire conditions, Head said.
“For many years now, a lot of the red flag warnings we’ve had some sort of does happen and unfortunately some of the deadliest and most destructive fires have happened during those red flag warnings,” Head said.
Cal Fire and firefighting agencies across the state are prepared to respond if a major fire breaks out. So far, PG&E does not have plans to shut off power, like the company did to millions of customers in 2019, but they are monitoring conditions, PG&E spokesperson Brandi Merlo said.
Red flag warnings are just one of the many factors the company considers before cutting power to customers. The company, whose equipment has been blamed for causing a number of destructive wildfires, began temporarily shutting off power to large portions of its customers in 2018 to prevent its equipment from sparking wildfires.
Wildfires across California have been more frequent and increasingly destructive in recent years. There have been at least 1,000 more fires in California during the first six months of 2020 compared to the first six months of 2019, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection or Cal Fire.
There have been 2,405 recorded fires across California that have burned 13,617 acres so far this year, according to Cal Fire data. There were 1,386 fires that burned 10,552 acres across California during the first six months of 2019.
California’s five most destructive fires in the state’s history have occurred within the last five years, including the Camp Fire, the state's most deadly and destructive wildfire in history. This 2018 fire killed 84 people and destroyed the entire town of Paradise.
California wildfires have been devastating in recent years and has costed the state billions. Cal Fire suppression costs alone in the 2018-2019 fire season are estimated at $635 million.
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