The western half of the country is preparing for a hot, dry and potentially dangerous forest fire season that appears to be already underway in several states.
The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings on Friday for much of the Great Plains, including North Dakota, where a major fire on Thursday threatened homes and forced people to evacuate.
A red flag alert means that critical fire weather conditions are occurring now or soon. “A combination of strong winds, low relative humidity and hot temperatures can contribute to the extreme behavior of the fire,” said the National Meteorological Service on its website.
All 11 western states have areas that are experiencing severe or extreme drought conditions, including North and South Dakota, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, according to the US Drought Monitor.
“The southwestern US, which is already experiencing widespread to severe drought, will continue to be the hardest hit region, and water supply will continue to be a concern this spring in those drought-affected areas,” said Mary Erickson, deputy director of the National Meteorological Service, said in a statement.
The constant hot, dry climate raises concerns that this year’s fire season may be similar or worse than previous seasons.
“We are preparing for the year of the fire,” said Stanton Florea, a spokesman for the National Interagency Fire Center.
As a result of increasingly dry vegetation, the National Interagency Fire Center recorded an increase in fire activity in the United States in March, especially in the southwest and rocky mountain regions. Above-normal fire activity is expected to continue on the northern plains during April and early May.
“Things may change, but we look forward to the potential for another very active forest fire season in the West,” said Florea. “At this point, it is these drought and dry vegetation conditions that are causing this.”
As of Friday, nearly 1,800 firefighters had already mobilized to fight at least 19 different fires in the Upper Plains, Rockies, Great Lakes and southwest regions, Florea added. This does not include firefighters on prescribed or controlled burns.
“This is a very significant number for this time of year,” he said.
The national preparedness level, which is dictated by fuel and weather conditions, jumped from 1 to 2 this week, allowing firefighters to free up more resources and prepare for increased fire activity. Last year’s level of preparedness did not increase until June, said Florea.
Across the country, record forest fires are becoming increasingly common as temperatures rise and droughts worsen, leaving shrubs dry, overgrown and flammable.
On Thursday, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum declared a statewide fire due to drought conditions that sparked a major forest fire near the tourist town of Medora, where at least 100 residents were forced to evacuate.
There were no reports of injuries or damaged structures in the community near Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Burgum said during a news conference on Friday, but critical fire conditions are expected to continue for much of the day, according to the Forest Service. from North Dakota. Red flag warnings were also issued throughout the week to much of the state.
North Dakota has seen an increasing number of forest fires combined with extreme drought conditions, the Associated Press reported. The North Dakota Forest Service tracked more than 140 forest fires that burned more than 46 square miles.
In neighboring South Dakota, a forest fire threatened communities in Pennington County and forced residents in more than 400 homes to evacuate earlier in the week.
The increased fire threat comes after a historic forest fires season in 2020 that devastated millions of hectares in California, Washington, Oregon, Colorado and beyond. In the past decade, California has seen eight of the top 10 fires in the state’s history, according to an analysis by the Los Angeles Times, devastating communities and taking tens of millions of dollars out of the state budget.
Last month, California Governor Gavin Newsom authorized more than $ 80 million in emergency funds to hire another 1,400 firefighters from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, to strengthen fuel management and efforts to respond to forest fires. Newsom’s 2021 budget proposed $ 1 billion to support forest fires and forest management, according to the governor’s office.
“The fire season can be anytime,” said Carrie Bilbao, a spokesman for the Bureau of Land Management who also works with the National Interagency Fire Center. “We just don’t have these rainy seasons consistently anymore.”
Good news is that Alaska, usually one of the first states to see forest fires each year, is not experiencing an increase in 2021, said Bilbao.
“Alaska generally burns first and then the southwest, the eastern areas of Texas and Florida,” she said, adding that fire experts “are not yet in a panic.”
“It’s just one of those things you never know,” she said. “Especially with dry fuels and winds, it is clear that you will increase the risk of fire. You just plan the worst. “