Fire Risk: California Drought Conditions 100%, Up From 26%

Camp Fire among deadliest U.S. wildfires with 77 fatalities
No. 1 Peshtigo fire killed at least 1,200 in Wisconsin in 1871

Burned-out vehicles stand in Paradise, California, on Nov. 15, 2018. — Burned-out vehicles stand in Paradise, California, on Nov. 15, 2018.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

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By Kevin Varley, Alexandre Tanzi, and Vincent Del Giudice

November 19, 2018 at 2:40 PM UTC

Updated on

November 19, 2018 at 5:18 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

The whole of California is a potential tinderbox right now.

Drought and dry soil conditions widened to 100 percent of the flame-whipped state from 26 percent a year earlier, providing tinder for this month’s Camp Fire conflagration -- one of the deadliest wildfires in U.S. history, according to data for the week ended Nov. 13.