California’s wildfires 2018

Deadly wildfires threaten Northern and Southern California.

Contributors: Vox Staff

The Camp Fire in northern California is now the state’s deadliest and most destructive wildfire on record, causing at least 48 deaths and destroying more than 7,600 buildings. Since igniting last Thursday, the blaze has scorched more than 130,000 acres, an area more than four times the size of San Francisco.

Almost the entire town of Paradise, California, home to 26,000, burned down, leaving many homeless.

And it’s just one of several major infernos that have been raging in the Golden State this summer and fall as winds have picked up and spread walls of flames.

12 Total Updates Since
Nov 10, 2018, 3:21pm EST

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June 5, 2019
Breathing dirty air takes years off people’s lives. This tool shows just how much.

By Umair Irfan

How improving air quality could add years to people’s lives around the world.
November 21, 2018
How faith leaders respond to tragedies like the California wildfires

By Tara Isabella Burton@NotoriousTIB

"You have two ears and one mouth, so you’ve got to be listening twice as much as you’re talking."
November 19, 2018
Northern California still has dangerous air quality due to wildfire smoke

By Brian Resnick@B_resnick
Air quality map by Kavya Sukumar

An enormous area of California has smoke-polluted air.
November 19, 2018
California’s wildfires are hardly “natural” — humans made them worse at every step

By Umair Irfan

We fuel them. We build next to them. We ignite them.
November 19, 2018
The Paradise fire is catastrophic. And the wildfire threat to California is only growing.

By Umair Irfan

The ingredients that fueled the deadly wildfire were brewing for years. Residents only had minutes to flee.
November 17, 2018
Photos: what California’s lethal wildfires look like on the ground

By Eliza Barclay and Diana Elbasha

The Camp Fire is the deadliest wildfire in California history, and the toll is still expected to rise.
November 16, 2018
California’s newly homeless fire victims face the state’s severe housing shortage

By Umair Irfan

Thousands who lost their homes to the Camp Fire must contend with one of the tightest housing markets in the country.
November 16, 2018
Why the wildfire in Northern California was so severe

By Umair Irfan

Heat, wind, and drought — and long-term climate trends — conspired to create the deadly Camp Fire.
November 15, 2018
The fires in California highlight — and worsen — the state’s income divide

By Gaby Del Valle@gabydvj

While wealthy Californians can afford to hire private firefighters and rebuild destroyed homes, others may remain homeless for months.
November 12, 2018
Deadly wildfires are still threatening Northern and Southern California

By Umair Irfan

The Camp Fire is now the most destructive fire in state history, and has claimed at least 29 lives.
November 12, 2018
I'm a woman who fought wildfires for 7 years. Climate change is absolutely making them worse.

By Anastasia Selby

Warmer climate is creating the perfect conditions for long wildfire seasons in the West.
November 10, 2018
Trump responds to worst fires in California’s history by threatening to withhold federal aid

By Rachel Withers

The president blamed California’s environmental policies for the "deadly and costly" toll of the wildfires.

California’s wildfires 2018

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