SEATTLE (Reuters) - Western U.S. states, which had
below-average rainfall last winter and are currently
experiencing unusually dry weather, face a high risk of forest
fires this summer, a local fire and land agency said
Monday.
Paul Werth, a weather expert at the Northwest Interagency
Coordination Center, said that a report due to be presented to
state governors Tuesday will warn of the increased risk of
major wildfires breaking out over the coming months in a region
of the United States that is especially prone to raging summer
blazes.
"The biggest reason in combination is the dry weather that
we've had in June and the fact that we don't see any
significant rainfall through the remainder of the month," Werth
said.
Last year, dry winds fanned massive flames that were fueled
by the region's oily and dense brush, forest and grassland.
Werth said that the Pacific Northwest states of Washington and
Oregon alone saw 3,700 fires burn 1.1 million acres
of land -- two to three times the yearly average.
Forests on both sides of the Cascades mountain range, a
North-South span of snow-capped mountains that span Washington
and and Oregon, were at risk of spawning major blazes.
Also at risk for major wildfires are most of California,
Arizona, Nevada and Utah as well as the southern half of Idaho,
the western third of Wyoming, southern Montana and western
Colorado, Werth said.
The report is aimed at helping local communities and
firefighters prepare for the blazes, but tight budgets in state
governments might translate into less resources to fight the
fires, which rage for weeks and can consume hundreds of
thousands of acres of wooded forest.
REUTERS
below-average rainfall last winter and are currently
experiencing unusually dry weather, face a high risk of forest
fires this summer, a local fire and land agency said
Monday.
Paul Werth, a weather expert at the Northwest Interagency
Coordination Center, said that a report due to be presented to
state governors Tuesday will warn of the increased risk of
major wildfires breaking out over the coming months in a region
of the United States that is especially prone to raging summer
blazes.
"The biggest reason in combination is the dry weather that
we've had in June and the fact that we don't see any
significant rainfall through the remainder of the month," Werth
said.
Last year, dry winds fanned massive flames that were fueled
by the region's oily and dense brush, forest and grassland.
Werth said that the Pacific Northwest states of Washington and
Oregon alone saw 3,700 fires burn 1.1 million acres
of land -- two to three times the yearly average.
Forests on both sides of the Cascades mountain range, a
North-South span of snow-capped mountains that span Washington
and and Oregon, were at risk of spawning major blazes.
Also at risk for major wildfires are most of California,
Arizona, Nevada and Utah as well as the southern half of Idaho,
the western third of Wyoming, southern Montana and western
Colorado, Werth said.
The report is aimed at helping local communities and
firefighters prepare for the blazes, but tight budgets in state
governments might translate into less resources to fight the
fires, which rage for weeks and can consume hundreds of
thousands of acres of wooded forest.
REUTERS
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