kids encyclopedia robot

September 2020 Western United States wildfires facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Bobcat Fire, Los Angeles, San Gabriel Mountains
A view of the wildfires in Los Angeles

In 2020, the Western United States experienced a series of major wildfires.

Intense August thunderstorms lit many wildfires across California, Oregon, and Washington, followed in early September by additional ignitions across the West Coast.

Fanned by strong, gusty winds and fueled by hot, dry terrains, many of the fires exploded and coalesced into record-breaking, fire cloud producing, megafires, burning more than 4.6 million acres (1.9 million hectares) of land. It has killed at least 35 people, with many more still missing.

Climate change and poor forest management practices led to the severity of the wildfires.

Images for kids

  • Wildland Fire in Ecosystems 15-1-2

    Fire regimes of United States vegetation

  • United States Map of Year-to-Date through 8 September 2020 U.S. Drought Monitor Animation

    Year-to-date (through September 8, 2020) animation of extent and intensity of drought in the United States maintained by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln

  • National Interagency Fire Center Geographic Area Coordination Centers

    National Interagency Fire Center Geographic Area Coordination Centers

  • CZU lightning complex fire on Butano Ridge

    The CZU Lightning Complex fires were sparked by lightning in mid-August

  • Cal Fire largest wildfires 2020

    Six of the twenty largest wildfires in California history were part of the 2020 wildfire season. Five of the new wildfires ranking in the top 10 were all a part of the August 2020 lightning fires.

  • Carbon monoxide from west coast fires ESA22215863

    Carbon monoxide hotspots show locations of the wildfires

  • North Complex smoke in San Francisco - Financial District, Bay Bridge, Embarcadero, and wake
  • Downtown Portland from SE Portland during 2020 wildfires - 2020-09-09 - tedder
  • Smokey skyline view of Downtown Seattle from Rizal Bridge - Sept 11, 2020
  • Lower Manhattan from Jersey City September 2020 HDR 1
kids search engine
All content from Kiddle encyclopedia articles (including the article images and facts) can be freely used under Attribution-ShareAlike license, unless stated otherwise. Cite this article:
September 2020 Western United States wildfires Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.