Weather worsens US fires

Dry, hot weather will not help the fire-fighting effort

As President Bill Clinton prepares to travel to fire-ravaged western states of America this week, fears are growing that the situation could get even worse.

This has the potential to be one of the worst fire seasons on record

Dennis Pendleton, US Forest Service

With fires raging in 11 states, across more than 360,000 hectares (900,000 acres), more hot weather with dry lightning is being forecast.

Mr Clinton is expected to tour the area, and to meet some of the more than 1,500 troops who have been sent in to help exhausted civilian fire crews.

"The president wanted to just let the firefighters know how much the country appreciates what they are doing," said White House spokesman Joe Lockhart.

Poor forecasts

The fires are already being described as the worst for 50 years, but officials say this could be only the start.

"August and September are still ahead of us," said Dennis Pendleton, the top US Forest Service representative at the National Interagency Fire Centre, where state and federal agencies are co-ordinating the firefighting effort.

He noted that the late summer usually brings the most destructive fires, adding: "This has the potential to be one of the worst fire seasons on record."

Forecasters predict continued high temperatures, low humidity, and rainless thunderstorms - conditions conducive to even more fires.

Dry lightning storms are expected this week in the eastern Sierras of California, Utah, Montana, Oregon and Washington.

Giant scars

Forecasters say the kind of break in the weather needed to change the west's tinderbox conditions may not occur until October or November.

US fire facts

Worst fire season in 50 years

More than 62,000 wildfires reported

About 70 separate fires burning

1.52 million hectares burned

More than 20,000 firefighters mobilised

Minimum 700 fire engines, 150 aircraft deployed

$15m a day to contain the fires

According to the National Interagency Fire Centre, eight new fires have started since Saturday, but seven other large fires have been brought under control.

Some 70 separate fires are still burning, sending thick clouds of smoke across swathes of countryside, from the Canadian border down to Mexico.

In Oregon a general emergency has been declared.

The BBC's correspondent David Willis in Portland says that even though the National Guard has mobilised helicopters to douse flames from the sky, they are no match for Mother Nature.

Flying over the burning bush, the bright red patches look like giant scars on the landscape.

Evacuations

In all, more than 62,000 wildfires have been reported across the United States this year, scorching about 1.6 million hectares (4 million acres).

Military troops have joined forces with the firefighters

Urban areas near the fires are beginning to feel the effects: eye-burning smoke, closed roads, and low visibility that prevents commercial planes from landing.

Hundreds of people have been evacuated from their homes and the fires are now threatening wildlife and sites of archaeological importance.

In a number of areas the firefighters have been beaten back by the flames, or withdrawn because the situation has become too dangerous.

Australia, a country used to dealing with brush fires, is also sending in experts. Firefighters from Canada are already helping, and neighbouring Mexico could be asked for assistance as well.