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Reporter said. you can see where people abandon vehicles. they were shoved out of the way by bulldozers and people ran. ran for their lives. when you have to abandon your vehicle and run, you re in peril. the signs of large loss of life in this area are everywhere. i was at the feather river hospital what has made this so destructive and difficult to control? what has made it such a ravaging fire? wind, low humidity and low to no fuel moistures. california is in the 7th year of a drought. this was a weather driven event. i don t care how many fire engines you had in front of it, you re not going to stop it with the wind that was on it. thanks for spending some time with us while you try to take it in and help in any way you can. still ahead, with the future of the russia probe uncertain under matt whittaker, democrats ....
And the fire raced through the canyon. within minutes it gained a 32 acre foot hold on the north side of the highway and prompted more evacuations. officials expect more today it. low humidity and fuel moistures are critical. they are low and the aspect and ignition source and all of them come together like a perfect storm and the fire takes off on you. that s what we have here. reporter: given the rugged terrain much of the four fight is an air assault. tankers and choppers are dropping flame retardant. and that will buy time for the courthouse on the ground. they have more than 20 other active wildfires in the state. ....
reporter: firefighters called it the year of the fire storm. 2014 millions of acres were destroyed as hundreds of homes across the west went up in flames. go for it drop it. reporter: thoois year the outlook is more dire u. the forecast calling for bigger, more explosive fires fuelled by conditions not seen in decades. the drought is affecting rates of fire spread, fuel moistures, it s just incredible and it s just not getting any better. reporter: the assistant chief worked the san diego hillside when it became a blow torch last year. . we were there as fire devoured these drought-stricken hills. this is the front lines. this year the front lines will be everywhere. firefighters say what didn t burn last year is ready to go this year. scientists are also warning of a dangerous new cycle, a recent ....
It is moving very fast and the winds are propelling it. today they are expecting really strong winds. in the moment in the canyons anywhere from 5 to 15 miles an hour. over the tops of the ridges it will touch 40. that means we will see exponential growth in the fire. last night we were at duck wall mountain. in that area we saw one part of the forest about a half a mile stretch consumed in just 20 minutes. that was moving into the wind. there is so much dry brush on the ground that it is actually defying the natural elements. even if the wind is pushing it in one direction it is capable to go in all other directions. it is a 360-degree fight that the firefighters have. they are saying that yes indeed the winds will be the biggest enemy today. take a listen. with the winds, we are going to have lower temperatures, but you have to remember again critical fuel moistures, some of the dead fuels here, to give you an idea, are at about 5%. you can go to your local lumber store and by a tw ....
Clock. we have put everything that we have into this, including night air attack. reporter: the weekend winds really complicated the efforts, as did the terrain, which is steep and rugged. this is an extremely old and dry fuel. 1929. that s how old that chapparel is. reporter: the outlook is ominous. take a look at this map. almost the entire state of california is above normal for potential wildfire threat. this summer we re going to have a very volatile fire season. our fuel moistures typically don t get to critical stages until the fall, when we have santa ana wind events. but we project that those fuels will be at that critical state no later than july this summer. that s certainly bad news. dan simon joins us live. what s the latest on the fire right now? reporter: well, thankfully, crews seem to be getting the upper hand on this wildfire. it s said to be about 40% contained officially but they ....