Decades of snuffing out fires at the first sign of smoke combined with climate change have laid the groundwork for a massive wildfire in northern California and scores of smaller ones across the western U.S. and Canada, experts say.
These fires are moving faster and are harder to fight than those in the past. The only way to stop future wildfires from becoming so ferocious is to use smaller controlled fires, as indigenous people did for centuries, experts say. But they acknowledge that change won’t be easy.
Here are some things to know about the latest fires and why they are so savage:
Blazes scorch hundreds of square miles
The Park Fire, the largest blaze so far this year in California, stood at 544 square miles (1,409 square kilometers) as of Saturday. It ignited Wednesday when authorities said a man pushed a burning car into a gully in Chico and then calmly blended in with others …