The summer 2008 California wildfires, collectively dubbed the Northern California Lightning Series by CAL FIRE, were a concentrated outbreak of wildfires during the summer of 2008. Over 2,780 individual fires were burning at the height of the period, burning large portions of forests and chaparral in California, and killing 23 individuals. The majority of the fires were started by lightning from dry thunderstorms on June 20, although some earlier fires were started on May 22. International aid from Greece, Cyprus, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Australia, Canada, Mexico and New Zealand helped fight the fires.
The Basin/Indians fire in the Ventana Wilderness became the third largest in California history based on size and the second costliest to put out in U.S. history.
Read more about Summer 2008 California Wildfires: Weather, Contributing Factors, Fire History, Air Quality, See Also
Famous quotes containing the words summer and/or california:
“Although its growth may seem to have been slow, it is to be remembered that it is not a shrub, or plant, to shoot up in the summer and wither in the frosts. The Red Cross is a part of us—it has come to stay—and like the sturdy oak, its spreading branches shall yet encompass and shelter the relief of the nation.”
—Clara Barton (1821–1912)
“I can’t earn my own living. I could never make anything turn into money. It’s like making fires. A careful assortment of paper, shavings, faggots and kindling nicely tipped with pitch will never light for me. I have never been present when a cigarette butt, extinct, thrown into a damp and isolated spot, started a conflagration in the California woods.”
—Margaret Anderson (1886–1973)