Comparatively speaking, this is a sparsely settled area. The employment base is ranching, farming, and oil fields. The magnitude is overwhelming. They were fighting huge fires in a 40 mph wind. One of the Fire Chiefs said that stopping something like this is like trying to stop a tornado. Fires like this actually spawn small firestorm tornados. Our long term forecast says the drought has very little chance of breaking before fall. Expect a lot more of it to came. Although there is no way to minimize this destruction and these peoples loss, the real fear is that one of these will occur near a larger city or more populated area. If that occurs, the loss of property and life will be staggering.
Think about it. The 850,000 acres reported about these most recent fires will cover 1,328 square miles. This assumes my math is correct. If you add that to previous and future fires, you get an idea of the magnitude of the situation.
