For Only 4th Time, Acreage Burned Tops 9 Million Acres; All Four Times Post-2000

[hatrack]

The amount of land burned by wildfires in the U.S. this year has surpassed 9 million acres, according to data released Thursday by the National Interagency Fire Center.

This is only the fourth time on record the country has reached the 9 million-acre mark, center spokesman Randall Eardley said in an e-mail. The area burned is roughly equivalent to the size of New Jersey and Connecticut combined.

All of the top years for acres burned have occurred since 2000, Eardley said. The worst year occurred in 2006, with 9.8 million acres. In 2007 and 2012, 9.3 million acres were burned, he said. If another 800,000 acres are burned this year, an all-time record would be set.

Accurate wildfire records go back to 1960. Prior to 2000, the U.S. surpassed 7 million acres only one time — in 1963. "The year 2000 seems to have been a turning point in the number of acres we've seen burned," Eardley said.

EDIT

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/nation-nears-wildfire-record-with-more-than-9-million-acres-burned/ar-AAeJgYM?ocid=spartandhp

[haikugal]

1. .

[GliderGuider]

2. Hey, that candle is a fire hazard!!!

[haikugal]

3. .

I thought the same thing!!

[daleanime]

4. kick, kick, kick....

[OnlinePoker]

5. Here's the stats from NIFC

1960-2014. More fires burned in the early years, but less acreage due to a different suppression standard. The western drought has made the understory tinder dry and one spark can set off a major conflagration.

https://www.nifc.gov/fireInfo/fireInfo_stats_totalFires.html