Four years of drought had left fuel moisture at record lows, allowing the fire to burn aggressively through the night instead of calming. Impact and Scale
Suppressing the blaze cost $46.1 million (roughly $59.4 million today). The Surprising Cause ROCKY FIRE LAKE COUNTY
The fire consumed roughly 22,000 acres in just five hours—a rate of spread that computer models predicted would take seven days. Four years of drought had left fuel moisture