With resources tied up in hurricane relief, requests for wildfire help going unfulfilled
BURBANK, CA: A firefighter holds a hose on the 120 freeway during the La Tuna Fire on September 2, 2017. About 100 LA firefighters will return soon from Texas, where they've been helping hurricane survivors. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
(KMSP) - Wildfires simmering for the last few months have ravaged the western United States in recent weeks, from California up the coast to Washington and east into Montana.
More than 7 million acres have burned already, putting the yearly total on pace to break the record of more than 10 million set in 2015--with the blazes worsened by a beetle infestation that's led to an almost 20 percent increase in dead trees in those states, according to a report by the Associated Press Thursday.
RELATED: Photos: Wildfires ravage eastern United States
The Minnesota Interagency Fire Center has been working with authorities across the affected states, with just over 200 people currently out of the state helping with firefighting efforts in various capacities. This is well below their requested amount, with over 700 requests for help across those states going unfulfilled because resources are tied up dealing with hurricane damage in the Gulf and east coast.
Just this summer alone, more than 1,600 people have mobilized to western states to battle multiple blazes, with some returning more than once.
State authorities are warning residents to limit the amount of fires they start, saying that fire season in Minnesota begins this month and runs through the first snowfall.
You can track the number and intensity of wildfires with data from the Fire, Weather & Avalanche Center's interactive map.