SPOKANE, Wash. — A huge wildfire in California is just the latest destructive blaze to stretch resources across the West during a fire season that has been one of the worst in years.
The fires have left some states with thin budgets to scramble to get people, planes, bulldozers and other tools on fire lines to beat back the flames.
According to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, the nation as of Wednesday had seen 42,927 wildfires this year, which burned just over 7 million acres.
While the number of fires is down from the 10-year average of 54,209 as of Aug. 22, the acreage was well above the average of 5.4 million acres, said Don Smurthwaite, a NIFC spokesman.
“The fires are bigger,” Smurthwaite said.
Utah has spent $50 million fighting wildfires, surpassing the $3 million in the state budget. Washington state projects it will spend $19.6 million this fiscal year.
Meanwhile, firefighters in northern California on Wednesday made progress in containing a huge wildfire that has burned dozens of homes and scorched about 38 square miles. It was 50 percent contained Wednesday morning.
