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Thursday, Sep. 17, 2020

Did a pyrotechnic device cause the largest of California’s recent wildfires?

Jacqueline Agustin, Gigafact
no

Wildfires in California have burned through 3.3 million acres so far this year. The state is battling what is as of Sept. 16 an 18,500-acre fire east of Los Angeles, which the state's fire-control agency says was started by a “pyrotechnic device” used at a gender-reveal party on Sept. 5.

The state is also simultaneously fighting at least 10 larger fires, ranging up to 800,000 acres in size. Most are in the northern part of the state, and several were started by an unusual wave of lightning strikes across northern California earlier in August.

Sources

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