California's record fire season: "Well over 4 million acres" burned
04 October 2020
More than 8,200 wildfires have burned "well over 4 million acres" in California this year, killing 31 people and destroying 8,450-plus structures, Cal Fire said Sunday.
Why it matters: Cal Fire confirmed on Sept. 7 that nearly 2.2 million acres had burned, surpassing the previous record set in 2018. The amount of land charred now is bigger in size than Connecticut and more than double that which burned in 2018, when 1,975,086 acres were razed.
Since CAL FIRE officially began recording state responsibility fire figures in 1933, all large fire years have remained well below the 4 million acre mark for acreage burned, until now. This year is far from over and fire potential remains high. Please be cautious outdoors. pic.twitter.com/IkwjSqEeVo
— CAL FIRE (@CAL_FIRE) October 4, 2020
Of note: 2018 remains the deadliest year for wildfires, with 85 people losing their lives in blazes.
The big picture: The wildfires have been particularly bad in recent days in California's wine country, where the Glass Fire that started late last month has burned across 63,885 acres and was at 17% containment as of Sunday.
What to expect: More seasonal temperatures are expected by the end of the week, "with a chance of some precipitation in the most northern part of the State," Cal Fire said in a statement.
- "Expect locally gusty winds over the next few days on the west edge of the Sacramento Valley, the North and East Bay, and Southern California mountain ranges," Cal Fire said.
"A Fire Weather Warning is in effect for very Northeastern California afternoon from 2pm to 8pm for strong, gusty winds with low humidity in the Tulelake Basin region."
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.