2019 Mild Wildfire Season

2019 Mild Wildfire Season

Rick Worthington
Rick Worthington
Wildfires can be a nightmare for ranchers.

In 2019: From January 1st to the end of July, there were just over 25,000 wildfires compared with nearly 38,000 wildfires in the same period in 2018.

The National Interagency Fire Center says that comes to about 3.2 million acres were burned in the 2019 period, compared with 4.8 million acres in 2018.

The USDA's Brad Rippey explains, those numbers don't tell the whole story..

2019: From January 1 to July 30, 2019 there were 25,619 wildfires compared with 37,591 wildfires in the same period in 2018, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. About 3.2 million acres were burned in the 2019 period, compared with 4.8 million acres in 2018.

2018: In 2018 there were 58,083 wildfires, compared with 71,499 wildfires in the same period in 2017, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. About 8.8 million acres were burned in the 2018 period, compared with 10 million in 2017.

Numbers released by the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center (NWCC) show this year's wildfire season has been far more subdued compared to years past.

NWCC Fire Information Officer Carol Connolly says cooler and wetter weather made fire fuels, like trees, grasses and brush far less susceptible to catching and spreading fire.

Connolly says a few weeks of fire season remains; however, fire danger begins to drop throughout September.

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