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It has been a wildfire season for the record books in California.

So far CalFire has recorded 1,465,048 acres burned in 2020 to date, compared to just 131,137 in the year before.

Now we must add two new grim statistics.

Two firefighters, aged 26 and 31, were critically injured while battling the Silverado Fire, which has so far torched at least 7,200 acres in and around the community of Irvine, southeast of Los Angeles.

According to Orange County Fire Authority Chief Brian Fennessy, there are about 500 firefighters battling to contain the out-of-control blaze. The men injured suffered second- and third-degree burns across 65 percent and 50 percent of their bodies, and both have been intubated in the hospital.

Approximately 100,000 residents in Southern California were under a mandatory evacuation order on Monday, while huge areas of the state went without power in an effort to prevent more flames, officials said.

Sadly this may have been another “man-caused disaster.”

Southern California Edison (SCE) has reported to the state’s Public Utilities Commission that it was investigating whether its own equipment might have sparked the blaze.

The utility company said a wire that lashed a telecommunications line to a supporting cable may have struck a 12,000-volt SCE conducting line above it.

SCE was among the utility companies across the state that cut power to customers to prevent equipment from being knocked down or damaged by debris in the high winds and sparking wildfires.

Chief Fennessy said the incident was under investigation. He said that powerful winds had kept aircraft from dropping retardant and water on the blaze, making ground crew firefighters like the two who were injured critical to extinguishing the flames.

“This is a tough fire, where we’re experiencing very high winds, very low humidities,” he said. “Our firefighters are some of the bravest, if not the bravest in the world.”

So far, 31 deaths have been attributed to California wildfires across the state since August — four firefighters and 27 other people overtaken by the flames.

Thomas Anthony, a 32-year-old Irvine resident, heard the sound of high winds in the middle of the night before waking up to the heavy smell of smoke.

The major fire evacuation was an alarming experience for Anthony, his wife, their 1 1/2-year son and pet puppy.

“Man, it seemed like Armageddon to be honest,” he said after safely evacuating to his in-laws 30 miles away in Downey. “It could have been the end of the world if that’s what was really happening.”

Just wait until November 4th…