In recent years, wildfires have devastated communities throughout the western United States. The United States Forest Service reports that wildfires burned through an area the size of New Jersey each year in 2015, 2017 and 2020.
The recent deluge of rain and snow in the West doesn’t necessarily mean a mild fire season. In fact, more rain means more vegetation, which means more tinder for fires. California’s 2020 fire season, the worst in the state’s history, followed a winter of “atmospheric rivers” like the ones they’re experiencing now.