08/25/06 Wildfires Continue

Wildfires continue. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. Reports of rain in the Midwest are good news for those farmers but the rains continue to miss the west coast and northwest. RIPPEY: So as a result we've seen a continuation of some pretty large wildfires and frequent wildfire activity across the northwest. That's meteorologist Brad Rippey with the USDA. As wildfires keep scorching more and more acres the totals keep going up. RIPPEY: Some of that is because of the early season fires that we saw down in Texas that ripped through the countryside there, but you add up the southern wildfires early in the year and the more recent activity in the Great Basin, California and the Northwest; getting pretty close to the 7 million acre mark. The record acreage destroyed by fires in a single year is 8.7 million acres. Rippey is not very optimistic about this year. RIPPEY: Unless something changes quickly this fall, we are probably like to approach or surpass that record acreage for wildfires in a year. The weather forecast for the northwest and west over the next few weeks is to continue on the dry side. Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire has declared a statewide wildfire emergency citing the current fires burning and the potential for more blazes. The proclamation directs state government to support emergency response activities across the state, allowing state agencies to make expenditures and utilize resources to assist local jurisdictions. It also authorizes the Washington National Guard to activate their resources and personnel to assist local jurisdictions with fire-fighting activities. Now here's today's Washington Grange report. (GRANGE) That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.