Southern California emergency officials are dealing with a rash of wildfires that should not be happening this time of year.

“This is May, this is unbelievable. This is something we should see in October,” said Carlsbad fire chief Michael Davies told the BBC.

The wildfires have caused disruptions and evacuations all over southern California.  Nine wildfires have broken out around San Diego and have caused evacuations of as many as 20,000 people because of the flames.  San Marcos officials evacuated students from the California State University campus.

“The fire was right above campus. I could see it reaching over part of the hill, this really dark smoke. It was almost like an explosion,” said 19-year-old Grant Rapoza.

A 6,000 acre fire at Camp Pendleton Marine Base forced the evacuation of weapons stations for both the Marines and Navy.

“The common theme statewide this year is unprecedented number of fires and fire activity across the state, in many cases two to three months earlier than normal,” Ken Pimlott, director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, told the Christian Post.