page_title: 2008 California wildfires
hierarchical_section_title: 2008 California wildfires
caption_attribution_description: English: Satellite image of the Summer 2008 California wildfires, on July 9, 2008. Around 3,593 wildfires ignited during the 4-month-long duration of this event, during which 1,161,035 acres (469,854 ha) of land was burned.
context_page_description: The 2008 California wildfire season was one of the most devastating since the turn of the 21st Century. While only 4,923 fires occurred, about half as many as in 2007, the total area burned far exceeded that of previous years. Throughout the year, 1,593,690 acres of land were burned.
  By July 5, 2008, 328 wildfires were burning, and those fires were only 81% contained. For the first time since 1977, the US military helped with ground-based firefighting, when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger dispatched 400 California National Guard troops, including Chief Medical Officer Susan Pangelinan, to manage fire lines. He said the number of fires had stretched the state's fire-fighting resources thin. "One never has resources for 1,700 fires. Who has the resources for that?" Schwarzenegger said, adding, "Something is happening, clearly. There's more need for resources than ever before... it's fire season all year round."
context_section_description: The 2008 California wildfire season was one of the most devastating since the turn of the 21st Century. While only 4,923 fires occurred, about half as many as in 2007, the total area burned far exceeded that of previous years. Throughout the year, 1,593,690 acres (6,449.4 km²) of land were burned.
  By July 5, 2008, 328 wildfires were burning, and those fires were only 81% contained. For the first time since 1977, the US military helped with ground-based firefighting, when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger dispatched 400 California National Guard troops, including Chief Medical Officer Susan Pangelinan, to manage fire lines. He said the number of fires had stretched the state's fire-fighting resources thin. "One never has resources for 1,700 fires. Who has the resources for that?" Schwarzenegger said, adding, "Something is happening, clearly. There's more need for resources than ever before... it's fire season all year round."
caption: Some of the wildfires as seen from space during the height of the summer outbreak on July 9, 2008.
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