The West has burned a patch 107 miles by 107 miles. It's getting worse as you read this so click here for Current Incidents. That is one realty we should all be discussing. Year-to-date statistics 2015 (1/1/15 - 8/21/15) Fires: 41,525 Acres: 7,293,666 (1 square mile = 640 acres) Oregon, Idaho, Washington states have National Guard and Army fighting fires with experts from Australia & New Zealand on the way to join Canadian and U.S. active fire fighters. Any questions? Climate Change.
Reuters Aug 21, 2015 1:29pm EDT ~~ President Obama signed a federal declaration of emergency for Washington state on Friday, authorizing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate relief efforts in 11 counties and several Indian reservations hard hit by wildfires. ...continues...
MSN Videos here.
National Interagency Coordination Center
Incident Management Situation Report
Friday, August 21, 2015 - 0530 MT
National Preparedness Level 5
National Fire Activity
Initial attack activity: Light (157 new fires)
New large incidents: 7
Large fires contained: 6
Uncontained large fires: * 66
Area Command Teams committed: 2
NIMOs committed: 0
Type 1 IMTs committed: 19
Type 2 IMTs committed: 27
* Uncontained large fires include only fires being managed under a full suppression strategy.
Link to Geographic Area daily reports.