06/22/05 Fire season delayed

It has been, as one firefighter put it, as green has he has ever seen for this time of year in much of the Northwest. The unusually wet spring has produced more grass and brush. That is not necessarily a good thing. Sure, the above normal precipitation has played a big part in delaying the start of wildfire season in the region. But the new growth that the rains are feeding are being added to many areas in the Northwest already overgrown with grass and brush, coupled with years of drought like conditions. Rick Ochoa of the National Interagency Fire Council breaks down the growth, and the concerns. OCHOA: I think at the lower elevations we're seeing a pretty good growth of grass down in the lower elevations of say Eastern Oregon through Idaho and into portions of Montana. And our concern is we are just getting into our lighting season right now and so our concern there is that the lighting is going to cause some problems in the lower elevations. So even though the rains have held off the start of fire season, Ochoa says make no mistake, the fire season will be here soon enough. OCHOA: We still expect to have the potential for an above normal fire season in portions of the Northwest and Northern Rockies. And that area would be primarily say from Eastern Washington through Idaho into Western and Southern Montana. And that's because we still have long term drought in those areas. And the rainfall's been very good in pushing back the fire season but we know things are going to turn warmer and drier as we head into summer and especially in the latter part of July and August. Now understand that the dual edge sword of the rains is not just delayed fire season  more brush growth. It has caused delays in conducting prescribed burns in some forest and rangelands to remove growth. However, officials for various agencies within the U.S. Interior Department say they have fortunately come close to reaching their goals for prescribed burns this year. If worst comes to worst, they can finish prescribed burns in the fall, which should put public lands in good shape fire prevention wise for next year. That, along with mechanical thinning, will come into play in reducing the fire risk this season. Ochoa says that will help, but an active fire season still is expected. But some reinforcement is on the way, coming back in the game after being put on the bench last year. More on that, and the efforts to battle potential wildfires in the region, will be discussed in our next program.