Free Republic

On Tuesday, Death Valley, California, climbed to 124 degrees making it not only the hottest spot in the United States but also likely one of the hottest, if not the hottest, locations in the world. And Wednesday, was forecast to only get hotter, with Death Valley forecast to soar to a blistering 128 degrees. With temperatures rising to 10 to 30 degrees above average, dozens of records were demolished Tuesday across Wyoming, Utah, South Dakota, Nevada, Arizona and Southern California. Casper, Wyoming, broke its previous record high of 93 by a full 9 degrees. Many other Western cities saw similar,...

Gov. Jerry Brown put the state’s early wildfire season in global terms Monday, saying the state would have to grow accustomed to more forest fires as a consequence of climate change.

THE upcoming fire season could start earlier and last longer, a top Victorian fire chief has warned. Identified risk areas include the Otway Ranges, the Dandenong Ranges, the Brisbane Ranges and the Macedon Ranges. Victoria's Department of Sustainability and Environment chief officer Ewan Waller said firefighters would start burning off as soon as possible. "The fire season may well start earlier, go longer, with lightning in between," Mr Waller said. "We will have extra support from the government for spring burnoffs state-wide and there will be smoke in the air as soon as we can start bringing in people." He...

SACRAMENTO – From a base camp at Fort Hunter Liggett where he plots maps for strike teams battling infernos in the Big Sur wilderness, Cal Fire Capt. Allan Lippe struggles with the fatigue of nonstop 15-hour shifts and the knowledge that firefighters are staring at a 2008 fire year that threatens to grow into one of the most drawn-out and dangerous ever. “When it starts this early, you talk to the wife and warn her that it will be a long summer,” said Lippe, one of more than 300 firefighters from the San Diego region now on fire lines from...

HELENA - The Pentagon has turned a deaf ear to Gov. Brian Schweitzer's request to return more of the state's National Guard members to Montana for the heart of the wildfire season, the governor said Tuesday. Schweitzer said the Defense Department not only ignored his March plea to reduce the number of Montana Guard soldiers deployed, but has since increased its demand on state units. Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, the Army general in charge of National Guard forces, provided information this week showing that 44 percent of Montana's Guard members were mobilized as of July 12. That is the third...

Why the West Is Burning A five-year drought has parched soils, lowered reservoirs and weakened forests. And if the past is any guide, the dry spell could go on for decades By J. MADELEINE NASH/SAGE Monday, Aug. 16, 2004 In California the wildfire season generally ramps up slowly, and the largest fires usually don't arrive until fall. But this year is different, says Riverside County fire captain Rick Vogt, surveying the aftermath of a blaze that swept through the rural community of Sage, 80 miles from San Diego, with unseasonal intensity late last month, blackening more than 3,500 acres. Fire...

A wildfire in Cochise County that started near the U.S.-Mexican border Sunday spread to about 1,000 acres south of Sierra Vista, officials said. The fire is the first sizable wildfire this year in Southern Arizona. The fire is in an area about 20 miles southeast of Sierra Vista near Palominas on Bureau of Land Management land. David Peters, a BLM spokesman, said the fire was believed to have been started by an illegal entrant. A Border Patrol agent saw a man believed to be an illegal entrant in some tall grass at about 10 a.m. As the agent chased...