Wildfires Have Gone From Bad To Worse — And More Are Inevitable

More than 3 million acres have burned in California this wildfire season. The previous record in a single season was 1.7 million, two years ago.

Towns are being decimated across California, Oregon and Washington — and firefighting resources are maxed out, as NPR's Kirk Sieglerreports from Boise, Idaho.

In California, NPR's Lauren Sommer reports on an effort to fight fire with fire — something some Native American tribes have been doing for a long time.

Find and support your local public radio station.

Email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

This episode was produced by Brianna Scott, Lee Hale and Brent Baughman. It was edited by Sami Yenigun and Beth Donovan with help from Wynne Davis and Elena Burnett. Our executive producer is Cara Tallo.