2009 was a mild wildfire season for California

The economy struggled, unemployment was sky-high and swine flu raged across the landscape. But California actually got lucky in 2009 in one big area: fires. Despite enduring a third year of drought and some major blazes in Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties, California experienced a surprisingly mild wildfire year last year, according to final tallies this week by the state's leading fire fighting agencies. Altogether, 402,181 acres burned last year statewide on lands overseen by Cal Fire and the U.S. Forest Service, the two agencies that fight the vast majority of wildfires every year in California. That was less than a third of the record 1.3 million that burned in 2008. The reason: the weather. There was less dry lightning, fewer bursts of Santa Ana winds, and generally cooler summer temperatures than normal...read more