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U.S. contends with especially fiery year

fire
Experts predict more hot, dry weather could lead to the worst fire season in many years  

June 2, 2000
Web posted at: 11:09 p.m. EDT (0309 GMT)

(CNN) -- The hundreds of wildfires that have recently struck a too hot, too dry, too combustible United States have already consumed twice as many acres as are usually lost to fire each year.

And experts say much more land will go up in flames before the year is out.

"It's been a tough one," said Ron Coats of the U.S. Forest Service Southern Region. "Of the 28 years I've spent in the agency -- and all of it some form or another of fighting fire or using prescribed fire -- it's the worst that I've seen."

On average during the preceding decade, nearly 35,000 wildland fires destroyed about 620,000 acres each year, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

Government numbers show more than 1.1 million acres have already been ravished this year by more than 42,000 fires.

That's 28 percent more charred territory than last year at this time and twice as much as the acreage burned in all of 1998 or all of 1997.

Four hundred wildland fires were reported from nearly every region of the country Thursday, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

Fourteen of the largest fires are burning in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico and Utah for a combined total of 103,053 acres.

As of June, 28,351 fires had burned 545,683 acres in the Southern Fire Region, which comprises Oklahoma, eastern Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Florida.

In the southeast region, which is in its third year of drought, the beginning of June will bring the end of the region's spring fire season.

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VideoEnvironment Correspondent Natalie Pawelski explains why much of the United States may see more fires this summer.
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Hot, dry time means more flames

But the National Forest Service said the weather forecast calling for continued hot, dry temperatures in the southern states -- courtesy of La Nina-- could mean a long, fiery summer.

"We've already burned more acres this year by the first of June than we historically do the entire year," noted Coats.

Parched conditions and a drier-than-average weather forecasts have extended fire concerns west across the entire southern tier of states.

Florida was again experiencing extreme fire conditions Friday with a fire weather watch posted in the west, central and panhandle portions of the state, according to the NIFC.

Fire forecasters said there are also long-term trends to worry about: Across the country, cities and towns are pushing against the edge of wilderness, putting more people in flame's way.

There's also what some call the "Smokey Bear" effect: Decades of firefighting have led to a build-up of brush and deadwood that would normally have burned off gradually -- during frequent, low-intensity lightning fires.

"So when fires do start ... they burn more intensely. They'll be more difficult to control and they'll cost more to put out," said Denny Truesdale of the U. S. Forest Service.



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RELATED SITES:
National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC)
Global Fire Monitoring
ParkNet: Gateway to the National Park Service
USDA Forest Service

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