U.S. Sees Furious Start to the Wildfire Season

USA Today reports: 

Wildfires have charred a whopping 2 million acres across the U.S. so far this year, an area larger than the state of Delaware.

It's a gigantic number for so early in the season, roughly 10 times the average and also the most acres burned as of mid-March since 2006, according to spokeswoman Jessica Gardetto of the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

Many of the blazes have been massive grass fires in Oklahoma and Kansas, which have both set records for number of acres burned in March, Gardetto said.

In Kansas, most fires are started by “controlled” or planned fires that either rekindled or spread out of control, according to Kevin Doel, a spokesman with the Kansas State Fire Marshal's office. (However, the causes of this year's blazes have yet to be determined.)

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Source:  USA Today

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