\u201cFire activity has been picking up,\u201d Tyler said. \u201cThe grass is cured in the Central Valley and Southern California. That fine fuel is ready for ignition by sparks and embers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even though three fires burning Tuesday were in Southern California, conditions are of particular concern this year in Northern California, Cal Fire officials said, due to the hot March weather, the early melting of the Sierra snowpack<\/a>, persistent wind and low humidity. Northern California also received less precipitation than Southern California this winter.<\/p>\n Since Oct. 1, San Francisco\u2019s rainfall has been 90% of the historical average, while Los Angeles has seen 136% of its historical average.<\/p>\n \u201cFire danger is well above what is typical this time of year,\u201d said Jesse Torres, Cal Fire\u2019s deputy chief of communications, describing the Northern half of the state.<\/p>\n Statewide, 32,054 acres have burned since Jan. 1 on lands overseen by Cal Fire and the U.S. Forest Service. That\u2019s roughly 50% higher than the average over the past five years over the same time frame, when 23,315 acres burned.<\/p>\n Cooler overnight conditions slowed the spread, fire commanders with the Ventura County Fire Department said, allowing some evacuees to return, although 1 house had burned.<\/p>\n To the west, a fire that began Friday when a man who crashed a sailboat onto the rocks at Santa Rosa Island lit a flare to attract help had burned 16,600 acres by Tuesday afternoon<\/a>. That fire, spreading through brush in an uninhabited portion of Channel Islands National Park, was 0% contained Tuesday. A helicopter crew evacuated 11 National Park employees, and two cabins were destroyed.<\/p>\n And in Kern County, the River Fire burned in the remote hills along Highway 178 east of Bakersfield. It was 3,535 acres Tuesday and 15% contained with no structures lost.<\/p>\n Craig Clements, director of the San Jose State University Fire Weather Laboratory, said Tuesday that moisture levels in plants around the Bay Area peaked in mid-March, about two weeks earlier than normal this year. He said the state could have a bad fire year, but a lot depends on the weather.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think people should be super concerned about these fires in the middle of May,\u201d Clements said. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty typical. It doesn\u2019t guarantee a bad summer.\u201d<\/p>\n A lot will depend on the weather conditions in the months ahead, he added.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we have a cool summer like last year, fire risk might be a little lower,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we have a hotter summer, it could be more catastrophic.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Map](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SJM-L-FIRES-0520-90.jpg\")
On Tuesday, more than 17,000 people remained under evacuation orders<\/a> as the Sandy Fire burned in the hills above Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks, near the Ventura County-Los Angeles County border. Roughly 750 firefighters battled the 1,386-acre blaze, which was 5% contained.<\/p>\n