Risks That Contribute to Devastating Wildfires in California

California has been experiencing more devastating wildfires than ever before in their history. Though PG&E has accepted liability and the investigation is looming, which we will touch base on, there are many leading factors that contribute to these serious changes that have taken place in the past few decades in California.

In November 2018, the California Camp Fire broke out and caused devastation and turmoil to the entire city of Paradise and many other areas in California that are widely populated. This led to the loss of many lives, personal injuries, and destruction of many structures that people called their businesses and home. The Camp Fire has since been deemed the deadliest wildfire that has ever broken out in California history. Many people wonder why these incidents seem to be getting deadlier and deadlier each year.

Leading Causes of Devastating California Wildfires 

There are many leading causes that have been widely attributed to California wildfires that blaze out of control and take lives every year. The Santa Ana Winds, which many people in California refer to as the Diablo winds, are known to promote ignition of these horrific fires and cause them to spread even worse throughout California at any given time. Vegetation will be dried and the winds will suck out every last bit of moisture, which means that any fire can blaze out of control the moment it starts, without a drop of moisture in sight to put it out.

Of course, there are many other aspects that contribute to these fires as well. We want to take a close look at just a few.

Pressure Differences: When autumn rolls around, Santa Ana winds might become prevalent based on the weather patterns that are seen in that specific area. When certain weather patterns set up that are most likely to contribute to serious wildfires, everybody must take precautions and prepare for what is to come. The weather pattern that causes these fires is reminiscent of turning on a clothes dryer.

Temperatures: Certain temperatures can also contribute to these fires. The air starts out cool and encounters the many mountain ranges of California, where it compresses. More kinetic energy is created and the temperatures start to increase drastically. This means that the air will become warm or hot, which can set off a fire in the blink of an eye that can easily spiral out of control and wreak havoc on entire cities. 

Dry Air: When winds from Santa Ana start to slope downward, they become very dry, and dry factors into how bad the weather conditions will be as they contribute to wildfires. Relative humidity will start to drop across the valley, which means that the winds will turn much drier. They will continue to lose water and could cause a serious drought season, which contributes to wildfire action.

Wind Speeds: The wind speeds are huge contributing factors as well. Santa Ana wind speeds can pick up to around 40-60 kilometers an hour, which means they can travel around 37 miles an hour at tops. These are huge numbers. This means that it can be extremely difficult to outrun these winds that can devastate entire towns within hours. When a wildfire is spreading so quickly and everybody is trying to flee at the same time because the fire was so unexpected, it could risk lives. This is why, when Santa Ana winds are present, it is important to know that they grow extremely rapidly and can become deadly in a matter of minutes to hours.

Closer Look at the Cause of the Camp Fire 

Wind speeds caused the Camp Fire to burn out the entire city of Paradise within hours, structures completely devastated and lives lost in the blink of an eye. Though many of these fires launch an immediate investigation to determine if it was an act of an arsonist or outside factors, the blame for the Camp Fire will likely fall onto PG&E, the known electric company in California.

Though PG&E did not intentionally contribute to the fire, they are under scrutiny for mismanagement of their equipment, which was so outdated and was not being properly maintained that it led to the Camp Fire spreading devastation across large pieces of California. Last year, it was determined that PG&E equipment, which tends to be outdated with failure of replacement by the company, caused a total of 17 fires and they continue to happen all the time.

In the aftermath of the Camp Fire, an outage was reported in a transmission line where the blaze began, which was a line that was supposed to be updated by PG&E but the company failed to do so. PG&E, as a result, could be facing billions of dollars in potential liability, which means that they might not be able to keep up with the demands or be able to pay back the communities who lost their homes and the people who lost loved ones. A total of 86 people were killed in this horrific fire that blazed on and on until it was under control.

Though the company is taking safety measures to ensure that incidents like these do not continue to happen in the future, we must greatly understand the contributing factors to these accidents and how the entire state can come together to help prevent these incidents when wind factors and more contribute to poor conditions where fires tend to thrive.

Turning to the Help of an Attorney

At Brady Law Group, our experienced wildfire accident attorneys are here in your time of need if you have suffered due to the devastation of the California Camp Fire. Whether you have lost a loved one and are looking to file a wrongful death claim or you have received injuries, we are here with open arms to handle your case and help you through this difficult time. Please contact us for more information on how we can help at (866) 478-6483.