California's Fiery Summer of 2025!

In the summer of 2025, California had a lot of big fires called wildfires. These aren't like campfires you roast marshmallows over! They are huge, uncontrolled fires that can spread super fast through dry grass and trees. By September 19th, there had been almost 7,000 fires! That's more fires than there are students in a very big school!

These fires burned a HUGE amount of land. They covered over 520,000 acres. To help you imagine that, think about a football field. One acre is about the size of one football field. So, these fires burned more than half a million football fields! That's bigger than many cities combined!

Wildfires can start in a few ways. Sometimes, lightning from a storm can spark a fire in dry trees. Other times, people might accidentally start them, like with a campfire that isn't put out properly or a spark from equipment. When the weather is very hot and dry, these fires can grow very, very quickly.

When there are so many fires, the smoke can travel far away, making the sky look orange and hazy, even in places far from the fire. It can also make it hard to breathe. Firefighters work very hard to put these fires out and keep people and homes safe. It's a big job!