Wildfires are threatening cannabis cultivation operations in California, with one fire in the northern part of the state growing to more than 13,000 acres.
A high-pressure dome has trapped heat over much of the United States for weeks, causing the wildfire season to start earlier than usual.
Experts are warning that conditions this year might be worse than 2020 for wildfires, which not only destroyed grows outright in California, Oregon and Washington state but also damaged plants via falling ash.
According to The Sacramento Bee, the Lava Fire in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest is nearing Lake Shastina, which has a population of roughly 3,000 in town and another 8,000 who work on neighboring cannabis farms.
The fire was caused by a lightning strike to a tree that sparked a small blaze in a remote area of an old lava flow east of Weed, California.
There are two other fires in the area – the Beswick and Tennant – that are smaller, but they have prompted evacuations, USA Today reported.
