U.S. fire officials were hopeful this year’s wildfire season would prove to be much more tame than recent years.
Unfortunately, that has not been the case.
U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore says that while fewer fires have taken place this year, more acres have burned.
USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey says that those numbers have almost reached record highs.
According to Rippey, “We have seen approximately 6.9 million acres burned nationally. There was a big chunk of that that occurred across the southern Great Plains back in late winter, but much of the more recent activity has been in the western United States. That total, almost 7 million acres far exceeds the 10-year average for January 1st through September 10th of just under 5.5 million acres. So, we are about 3 million acres away from a national record. I don’t think we’ll get to that point, but it certainly has been a much more active and above-average wildfire season.”
Rippey says that most of the current wildfire activity is taking place in the northwest, but some fast-growing fires have popped up in southern California as well.
