Los Angeles Basin Becomes Increasingly Dry And At Risk Of More Fires

GORMAN, CA - MAY 18: A red-winged blackbird perches in the charred branches of a wildfire-burned tree on May 18, 2007 near Gorman, California, 60 miles north of Los Angeles. The rain season in Los Angeles is shaping up as the driest since record-keeping began in 1872 and the region is now in an "extreme" drought state, the second-driest ranking given by the National Drought Mitigation Center in Lincoln, Nebraska. Bark beetle infestations induced by overgrowth from the second-wettest winter on record two years ago have killed untold thousands of pines in the mountain areas. Fire officials say that conditions are right for wildfires of disastrous proportions and frequency in southern California this year. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)