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Southern Calif. Wildfire The Latest In A Devastating Season

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A firefighter watches a backfire burn while battling a wildfire, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2013, in Banning, Calif. (Jae C. Hong/AP)
A firefighter watches a backfire burn while battling a wildfire, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2013, in Banning, Calif. (Jae C. Hong/AP)

A wildfire burning out-of-control east of Los Angeles has left three people injured, including two firefighters who have been airlifted to local hospitals.

About 1,500 people have been evacuated near Banning, as the blaze widened to engulf 15 square miles.

The affected communities are in the San Jacinto mountains along Interstate 10, about 80 miles east of Los Angeles.

We check in with Daniel Berlant at the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for an update.

Our conversation then turns to Gregg Garfin, a specialist in climate sciences and natural resource policy at the University of Arizona School of Natural Resources.

While wildfires are nothing new in the west and southwest, these fires are burning longer and wider, with a longer burning season.

We ask Garfin why that is, and how human intervention — in areas like fire containment and forest management policies — have played a role.

Guest

  • Daniel Berlant, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
  • Gregg Garfin, specialist in climate sciences and natural resource policy, University of Arizona School of Natural Resources.

This segment aired on August 8, 2013.

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