Lake Tahoe has never seen a fire this big before. And in just two weeks, we’ve seen two fires, the Caldor and the Dixie, both crest the Sierra summit and burn from one side of the mountains to the other, something that had never happened before and was considered unthinkable.

The Caldor Fire continues to rage in the Sierra, already 60 times bigger than the previous worst fire ever to hit the Lake Tahoe region, and threatening to burn all the way to the lake shore

Why are California’s wildfires getting worse, year after year? Blame the drought, climate change, forest management and decades of decisions that led to this point.

For more, KCBS Radio news anchors Patti Reising and Jeff Bell, as well as KCBS Radio political reporter and host of the segment, Doug Sovern, spoke with Dr. Brandon Collins, a research scientist with both the US Forest Service and the University of California’s Center for Fire Research and Outreach.