The government is spending more than $150 million a week battling wildfires in the drought-stricken West, and that number “will likely grow in the days and weeks ahead, says Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “Well over 26,000 firefighters and support personnel from federal, state and local agencies are deployed” along with 28 air tankers. In describing work by the Interior and Agriculture departments, Vilsack said the agencies will be joined by the U.S. military and allies to bring in additional firefighting resources.
“Over the next few weeks, we anticipate the fire season will continue to intensify, putting lives and property at risk,” said Vilsack.
Some 200 soldiers from an artillery brigade at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington State are expected to join wildfire lines on Sunday after three days of training. It is the first time since 2006 that active-duty military personnel have been assigned to wildfire duty, said the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. At mid-week, 95 large wildfires were burning on 1.1 million acres in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, California, Nevada and Colorado. “Weather and fuel conditions are predicted to continue to be conducive to wildfire ignitions and spread for the next several weeks,” said NIFC.
So far, fires have burned 7.2 million acres since the start of the fire season. Three U.S. Forest Service firefighters died near Twisp, Washington, while fighting a blaze.