The 2018 wildfire season is shaping up to be California's most destructive and expensive on record, with $432m already spent on firefighting and containment. Cal Fire asked lawmakers for an additional $234m in early September - the earliest the agency has ever requested emergency funds - to prepare for the peak of the fire season, which traditionally runs through the fall.

A report released 27 August, the fourth in a series of climate change assessments commissioned by the state, found that if global warming continues at its current rate, California residents can expect more deadly weather patterns, including longer droughts, higher temperatures and bigger wildfires. But how did the most populous state in the US get to this point?