Wildfires burned through more than 7 million acres in the U.S. last year. Fire managers think this year won’t be as bad. But the risk for wildfires is still high, even in the Great Lakes region. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Rebecca Williams reports:
Transcript
Wildfires burned through more than 7 million acres in the U.S. last year. Fire managers think this
year won’t be as bad. But the risk for wildfires is still high, even in the Great
Lakes region. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Rebecca Williams reports:
Federal fire experts say brush fires are more likely than usual in the region this spring.
Heavy rainfall last year made wild grasses grow, and because the region has had below-average
snowfall this winter, those grasses are still standing. As the snow melts, those tall, dry grasses could
ignite easily.
Steve Marien is a meteorologist with the Eastern Area Coordination Center. It’s a federal agency
that sends fire crews from the Midwest to big wildfires anywhere in the country.
“The higher fire potential over the Great Lakes may mean not sending fire crews to different parts
of the country if we have a day where we potentially could see strong winds and low
relative humidity. It may mean holding crews back and things like engines and aviation resources.”
Marien says the fire risk is especially high for much of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Rebecca Williams.