Fire safety

California wildfires: Everything we know and how you can help

An unprecedented fire season is wreaking havoc across the West, with wildfires tearing across multiple states and air quality plummeting. At least 10 people have been killed and over 3,000 homes destroyed since the season began. California's wildfires, driven by extreme blazes in August and September, have already burned more acres than any year on record. In a sign of things to come, the fire season is yet to peak, and fires have broken out in both Oregon and Washington. The images and stories coming out of the US west are eerily reminiscent of those experienced by Australians in early 2020.

In January, vast swaths of Australia burned. The skies turned orange, and smoke blanketed the country's largest cities. Entire cities were flattened. Now, across the Pacific, this grim history is repeating. San Francisco has turned red and orange, smoke blotting out the sun. In Oregon, hundred of homes have been lost to growing wildfires. In only 24 hours, more of Washington state burned than in 12 of the previous 18 fire seasons.