Wildfires in 5 States Fuel Fear of Destructive Season

More than 220,000 acres have burned in five Western states since last week in what fire officials say is rapidly becoming one of the most destructive wildfire seasons of the century.

So far this year, more than 39,400 fires have blackened close to 1.4 million acres, according to Allan West, a U.S. Forest Service deputy chief in Washington.

“And it’s continuing to get worse,” West said Thursday. “Long-range weather forecasts indicate continuing severe fire conditions, leaving this fire season with the potential to be as severe as last year’s.”

More than 5 million acres burned across the nation in 1988 in what West described as the worst fire season since 1910.

In California, firefighters bombed flames with fire retardant chemicals and lit backfires Thursday in an attempt to halt a 10,300-acre blaze in the Cleveland National Forest before it reaches the Eagle Crag nature sanctuary in San Diego County.

The blaze was burning rapidly through brush untouched by flames in more than 100 years as it advanced toward the canyon sanctuary for bald eagles, spotted owls and other wildlife.

Forest Service officials said the Cleveland fire was 60% contained.