Long before we moved out here to this hilltop, we recognized that wildfires were a way of life out in this area and that we would have to do everything we could to be vigilant and aware of how to protect ourseelves and our hilltop from them. We had our two and half acres largely cleared of non-succulent brush and while I have allowed portions of the property to revegetate, its been mostly with succulents, which somehow feel safer in the event of a wildfire. Indeed, succulents are a staple of fire-wise landscaping for a few reasons. To begin with, they have a high water content, with plump leaves that hold a lot of moisture, so they’re slower to ignite and don’t carry flame well. They also have a low oil/resin content unlike junipers, pines, rosemary, or eucalyptus, so succulents don’t contain volatile oils that flare up. They are characteristically low, compact growth plants where many of them stay close to the ground, so they don’t create “ladder fuel” that carries fire into shrubs or tree canopies. And they have sparse, fleshy foliage with less overall fuel mass per plant compared to woody or grassy vegetation. That said, “fire-resistant” doesn’t mean fireproof since no plant is immune under extreme conditions (high wind, prolonged drought, direct flame contact). And placement still matters since even succulents can pose some risk if planted right against a structure with dead leaf litter accumulating underneath, or if they’re dried out and stressed. I could only negotiate so much with Cal Fire over what I could leave around my 500-gallon propane tank. Given where we are up on the mesa or ridgeline here in Hidden Meadows, defensible space has value and succulents like aloe, agave, and ice plant are good to use in that zero-to-five-foot zone right around the house and garage, along with rock mulch instead of bark. Short of surrounding my house with nothing but gravel and stone, I think I’ve done what I can do to make us fire-resistent.
Prior to moving here we had heard of two bad wildfires here in San Diego. Those two fires jumped the 15 freeway. The Cedar Fire in October 2003 was the big one. It jumped Interstate 15 while cars were trying to flee but were halted by flames. Overall, it destroyed much of Crest and tore through Scripps Ranch and Tierrasanta, killing 15 people and destroying more than 2,800 homes and businesses over four days. Then there was the Witch Creek Fire in October 2007, the largest of that year’s fires. It jumped over I-15 and ravaged Lake Hodges, 4S Ranch, Del Dios, and Rancho Santa Fe, burning nearly 198,000 acres and destroying 1,650 structures. That is actually on the southern end of Escondido, so much too close for comfort. In fact, my sister Kathy lived at the time in Rancho Bernardo and they had to evacuate. There home did not get destroyed by the fire, but my brother-in-law’s brother lost his house, which was just a few houses away. It was a stark family lesson in the power of fire to change one’s life. While living here, I have had one fire spring up directly in sight of our hilltop, just on the far side of I-15 where I could watch from our deck as the Cal Fire Air Force took charge with a spotter plane, several water helicopters and two Phoscheck-dropping planes working to contain what amounted to a small 6-acre hillside fire that stopped traffic on the I-15 for a few hours and provided me with a front-row seat of how these fires get battled. Since then, I have made sure to keep the notifications from the Watch Duty app turned on so that I get notified of any and all fires that spring up nearby. It’s something everyone in this area does and we all call each other for updates when something springs up that looks to need attention.
Strangely enough, this year so far, 2026 is running better (calmer) than average with San Diego-specific wildfire numbers pretty light… but, of course, one must always add that the season isn’t over. What’s clear is that statewide, as of mid-July, 2026, we’ve had about 11.8% fewer fires and roughly 43.5% less burned acreage than the same point in 2025, and year-to-date acreage was well below recent years. That said, this doesn’t guarantee the rest of the season stays mild, with official outlooks pointed to increasing large-fire potential through summer as vegetation dries out and Santa Ana wind season approaches (typically Sept–Dec, the highest-risk stretch for San Diego specifically). The weather has definitely warmed so one factor working against complacency is that 2026 has seen extreme heat and minimal mountain snowpack statewide, which enables active fire conditions even with a slow start. The bottom line is that 2026 is quieter than 2025 so far by the numbers, but San Diego’s worst fires (Cedar 2003, Witch Creek 2007) all hit in October–November during Santa Ana wind events, so the season’s real test for our area is still ahead. I will keep Watch Duty notifications on.
Meanwhile in the rest of the world that I watch, wildfires have become a very real thing in two ways. In the Northeast U.S it’s been quiet on the fire front, but very hazy on the smoke front. While there has been minimal direct wildfire impact (the Northeast just isn’t a wildfire-prone region compared to the West), and this year forecasters expected relatively low wildfire activity in the Northeast due to frequent rainfall, higher humidity, and fully developed vegetation, that’s a real contrast to 2024, when a rare autumn drought drove a series of destructive Northeast wildfires with 400+ fires burning over 7,700 acres and causing two deaths. However, indirect impact via smoke has been much more of a story. With the West and Canada, especially, having a rough year (Canada is projected to see 11–15 million acres burn in 2026, well above its historical average of 5.7 million), smoke from major western and Canadian wildfires has been spreading into the Midwest, Great Lakes, and Northeast, bringing hazy skies and reduced air quality at times, even without local fires.
And then there’s Europe, which we have a particular eye on this year since we are traveling down the Rhine and through the Swiss Alps in early September. It’s been a brutal year for Europe so far with significantly worse wildfire activity than normal, and running close to 2025’s record pace. More than 530,000 hectares have burned across EU countries so far in 2026, putting the season on pace with 2025, when 1.08 million hectares were lost across the bloc. They have mapped roughly 457,000 hectares burned across 1,407 fires in the EU by July 29, about 32% more than the same point in 2025 and roughly two-and-a-half times the 20-year average. The total damage and economic loss is estimated at €15.6–19.1 billion ($18–22 billion). Spain has been hit hardest with more than 200,000 hectares burned, about 0.4% of the country’s land area, the highest proportional toll of any EU member state, and it’s now Spain’s largest wildfire on record. The season has displaced more than 350,000 people across Spain and France and killed at least 14 people in Spain, with peak fire month (August) still in process. France has hit a national record with 115,000 hectares burned so far this year, the largest wildfire toll since 1949.
This has all placed the Rhine in serious trouble right now, driven by the same heat/drought pattern. Water levels dropped to their lowest in nearly 150 years as heat and drought grip the continent, threatening a key route for transporting goods across the continent. Rhine levels have also been hurt by reduced snow and glacier runoff from the Alps, which is an especially important water source in late summer. Essentially the same heat and low-snowpack pattern fueling Europe’s wildfires is also starving the river that depends on Alpine meltwater. Alpine wildfires themselves have been less of a headline story than lowland Mediterranean fires, but the underlying drought/heat signature is identical — and Alpine glacier retreat compounding the water shortage is a slower-moving version of the same crisis. Rhine river cruises (Viking included) have had to adjust itineraries or bus passengers between ports in past low-water years when the river got too shallow. As of now, Viking has said “no change”, but we will see what we will see about what’s on fire in early September.