The horrific firestorm in January in California has already marked 2025 as a disastrous year for U.S. wildfires. Blazes in the Carolinas in March and current fires in New Jersey are signs of what could be a long, arduous year for firefighters across much of the country.
San Diego County saw a nearly 9% decrease in acreage with “very high” fire hazard compared to 2011, Cal Fire reported this week in a release of new maps for areas under local and county fire agency jurisdiction.
According to Cal Fire data, San Diego County has 157,338 acres with “very high” fire hazard, the highest level of hazard. In 2011, that figure was more than 180,700 acres.
We are now midway through our typical water year when it comes to rain and Sierra snow.
Does Donald Trump truly believe the nonsense he spouts about California water — the mythical “valve” connecting the state to Canada, or the imagined “half-pipe” that stands ready to soak the Los Angeles area?
California Department of Water Resources (CDWR) is pushing back on President Trump’s recent claim that the U.S. military entered the state and “turned on the water” in the wake of devastating wildfires that left lasting damage in the southern part of the state.
As President Donald Trump prepares to tour wildfire damage in California, he’s zeroing in on one of his frequent targets for criticism: State water policy. Since the fires broke out Jan. 7, Trump has used social media and interviews to accuse the state of sending too much water to the Pacific Ocean instead of south toward Los Angeles and highlighted how some hydrants ran dry in the early hours of the firefight in Pacific Palisades.
A plan to provide firefighters in Los Angeles and Orange counties almost limitless seawater to fight fires has been stalled for more than a decade, despite the ever-looming threat of mass fires fueled by quakes and high winds.
A billionaire couple was accused of withholding water that could help stop Los Angeles’ massive wildfires. Democratic leadership was blamed for fire hydrants running dry and for an empty reservoir. Firefighters were criticized for allegedly using “women’s handbags” to fight the fires.
The Santa Ana winds that led San Diego Gas & Electric to shut off power to more than 5,900 customers on Tuesday are now reaching their peak and come amid dangerously low relative humidity across critically dry San Diego County, the National Weather Service says.
An engineer explained to NBC 7’s Alexis Rivas how the placement of homes — like those in the Pacific Palisades — can impact water pressure in hydrants. However, he said there is no fire hydrant system in the nation designed for what happened last week.
