SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Blazes have burned thousands of acres, cued mandatory evacuations and threatened some of the state’s oldest and most impressive trees, but far fewer acres have burned in California wildfires through the first few weeks of summer than at the same point last year.
The tides may turn in the coming weeks as conditions stay hot and grow drier, but the numbers to date suggest the state may have averted a particularly nasty start to this wildfire season.
The total for acres scorched reached 25,135 across just over 4,400 fire incidents through Monday, according to the latest data available from Cal Fire.