SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California fire officials say acreage burned so far this year is down 90% compared to the average over the past five years.
The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says it has fought fires on 38 square miles this year. That is down from an average of 416 square miles burned over the same period the past five years.
Through the same date last year — the worst fire year in state history — more than 970 square miles had burned. The number of fires this year, though, is only down about 15 percent from last year.
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Those figures only count 3,400 fires responded to by CalFire this year and not federal lands.
The stats are good news, but the state's worst fires are typically in the fall.
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