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At a time when wildfires are still blazing across the country, the United States’ Wildfire Preparedness Level was raised to a five out of five.
That’s the highest level it can be.
Preparedness Level 5 means that national resources are already heavily committed to fires, and additional measures are being taken to support certain areas, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
The National Interagency Fire Center, which is made up of multiple agencies dedicated to wildland fires and other emergencies, makes its ranking based on fire activity, weather, fuel conditions and resource availability.
“Active geographic areas must take emergency measures to sustain incident operations,” the National Interagency Fire Center’s website says. “Inactive/low activity geographic areas are reaching drawdown levels.”
What level five means for people fighting the fire
According to the Bureau of Land Management, areas that see increased fire activity have to prioritize incidents and reallocate resources as needed to make sure they are fighting the blazes effectively.
Being at Level 5 nationally for a longer period of time can put a strain on these resources, though.
Lenore Lamb, a supervisor on the Ottawa National Forest in Michigan now assigned to a team managing fires in Minnesota, told NPR member station KNAU a Level 5 means it gets a little more difficult for crews to get the federal resources they need, such as firefighters, logistics and financial specialists.
“For Minnesota, you know, as resources get spread thin nationwide, it can make it difficult to rely on out-of-state crews, as many other states may be trying to keep their resources in state as well,” Lamb said in an interview with KNAU’s Chris Clements.
What’s currently happening with wildfires in the US?
As of Thursday afternoon, the National Interagency Fire Center said fire crews are working to suppress and contain 70 large fires. That number includes five new large incidents since Wednesday.
There are 21,171 firefighters and support personnel currently engaged in nationwide fire activity. These consist of 478 crews, 1,161 engines and 128 helicopters.
So far this year, 41,377 fires have scorched at least 3.9 million acres of the U.S.
Several places, including southern and central Oregon, are under red flag warnings.
States reporting large fires are: Oregon, Colorado, California, Minnesota, Washington, Florida, Utah, Idaho North Carolina, Wyoming, Virginia, New Mexico, South Carolina, Mississippi and Nevada.
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