How To Write An Essay About Wildfires

More than 8,500 firefighters were battling wildfires across the West yesterday, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. The fire center went to Level Four status Monday for the first time this year after 37 new blazes burned across more than 300,000 acres. Also Monday, the Western Governors' Association and the Bush administration agreed to a 10-year national plan to prevent and suppress wildfires. It calls for the aggressive removal of brush, trees and debris that can fuel catastrophic fires, and it seeks a long-term strategy for restoring wildlife habitats. Four fires raged through the night in northern California. One closed Interstate 80 in the Sierra Nevada for hours, while another, a 57,000-acre
John Kitzhaber declared a state of emergency to free up 200 National Guard members. The blaze burned a remote house and cabin Sunday. About 10 miles to the west, a fire broke out Monday night on a hillside within sight of the small town of Applegate. There was no immediate word on its size or what caused it. "Mother Nature is controlling us on this fire," said Greg Gilpin, an incident commander with the Oregon Department of Forestry. "There is nothing I or my team can do with this portion until Mother Nature gives us a break." Agencies have spent $1 million a day fighting the wildfire in Oregon. In Washington, lightning sparked wildfires, stretching the state's firefighting resources. The largest was the 400-acre Indian Dan Canyon fire, burning in hilly sagebrush and timber five miles northwest of Brewster. A 1,200-acre fire near Virginia Lake and an 800-acre fire near Goose Lake forced the evacuation of six ranches on the Colville Indian Reservation, said Colleen Roberts, a spokeswoman for Washington state's Emergency Operations