08/30/06 Fire season a long way from over

There have been plenty of wildfires across the US this summer, more than 78 thousand in fact and as we head into the holiday weekend there's a good chance of more fires. Tom Harbor of the US Forest Service says fire crews have done a good job in containing and controlling fires in Idaho and vicinity. HARBOR "We've had off and on 20 to 40 large fires going in Washington, Oregon, northern Idaho and Montana off and on throughout the season." Idaho and the Northwest were blanketed by heavy snow last winter and more than adequate rains in the spring. But that buffer disappeared when July rolled around, the moisture evaporated, temperatures went up and no rain came down. HARBOR "You added that dryness with some lightning and we got a mix that just wasn't good for us." Harbor says more than seven and a half million acres of forest and rangeland have been damaged or destroyed by wildfires so far this year. Idaho is still ground zero for wildfires with 13 different wildfires still burning. The National Interagency Fire Center says those fires cover more than 395 thousand acres of land and in most cases full containment is days and days away. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott