http://www.boston.com/dailynews/145/nation/Firefighters_brace_for_another:.shtml

Firefighters brace for another smoky summer in the West

By Tom Gardner, Associated Press, 5/25/2001 01:07

RENO, Nev. (AP) Firefighters in the West are bracing for the worst this summer as sweltering temperatures create ripe conditions for a repeat performance of last year's devastating wildfires.

The firefighting effort so far this year has focused on the Southeast and Florida, where nearly 2,700 wildfires have burned about 204,000 acres.

But fire officials in the West know their turn is coming as they cope with dry conditions and unseasonably high temps that are pushing the region quickly into summer.

''Conditions are actually worse than in 1999 and 2000 when fires devastated the West and Nevada,'' state Forester Firewarden Steve Robinson said Thursday.

The nation is coming off its worst fire season in a half century. Wildfires blackened about 7 million acres in the United States last year, with the majority of damage occurring in the West. This year, about 600,000 acres have burned across the nation.

Mike Apicello, a spokesman for the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, said wildfires that are raging in Southern states often provide a glimpse of what is to come in other regions.

''What the national fire season usually does is it kind of migrates across the country,'' he said.

In Montana, where 655,000 acres burned during last August's inferno, officials are witnessing frightening conditions again this year. Temperatures have been hot, and rivers, lakes and reservoirs are down.

''We're not looking too great. We could have a nasty season unless the weather patterns change,'' said Jack Peters, supervisor of the Division of Forestry's fire suppression section.

Texas state forester Jim Hull, who is chairman of the fire committee for the National Association of State Foresters, said fire bosses expect to be even more aggressive this year in attacking fires.

''It looks like we could be in for it again,'' he said. ''We'll be monitoring conditions much better and to keep fires as small as possible, we'll be making a rapid attack. We want to keep some of those gigantic fires from reaching that stage.''

In Nevada, fire officials in Nevada and the nearby Sierra also expressed concerns about wildland conditions after two small fires started earlier this month.

''Conditions will soon be ripe for the kind of fires we've experienced in mid-July,'' said Steve Frady of the Nevada Division of Forestry.

In California, Randy Scurry, manager of the Sierra Front Interagency Fire Center, just shook his head as he pondered the prospect of a potentially dry summer ahead.

''I hate to guess, but if we get this kind of ignition and if the fuels are as dry as they are this early, we could be tested.''

Although last year's blazes created devastating effects for Western states, officials say the fires did increase awareness of what it takes to live and keep living in the woods.

''People have lost touch with rural areas and the forces of nature that are part of those rural areas,'' Montana State Forester Donald Artley said. ''If we're smart and industrious enough to capitalize on the situation in terms of public information and education, then I think we'll have made some real progress.''

-- Anonymous, May 25, 2001

Answers

"Texas state forester Jim Hull, who is chairman of the fire committee for the National Association of State Foresters, said fire bosses expect to be even more aggressive this year in attacking fires."

LOL, looks like California has another Texan to get pissed at.

Dennis

-- Anonymous, May 25, 2001