• Home
  • News
    • Business
    • Crime / Courts
    • Health / Medicine
    • Legislature
    • Politics / Govt
  • Sports
    • The Bill Pollock Show
  • Contact Us
    • Reporters
  • Affiliates
    • Affiliate Support

Missourinet

Your source for Missouri News and Sports

You are here: Home / News / Missouri firefighters battle wildfires in five states

Missouri firefighters battle wildfires in five states

September 5, 2017 By Alisa Nelson

Nearly 200 active wildfires nationwide are wreaking havoc on land, in forests and to homes. Missouri crews are fighting wildfires in Montana, Mississippi, Wyoming, Oregon and California. Wildfires have damaged thousands of acres of land, including about 500,000 acres in Montana.

Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Interior

Cody Norris with Mark Twain National Forest in mid-Missouri’s Rolla says the work is intense for the 100 Missouri firefighters battling the flames.

“They often have to quickly learn the terrain, how fire behaves in that area, heavy fuels, trees that have fallen on the ground due to beetle kill and wind events,” says Norris.

Norris tells Missourinet there are more than 100 national forests and grasslands nationwide to protect.

“The U.S. Forest Service does have a very strong fire component because it’s very important for us to protect the resources we’re managing by putting out wildfires on the land and using prescribed fires as a tool to do restoration efforts in areas that are fire-dependent ecosystems. We do have folks stationed with that expertise on most, if not all of those forests and grasslands,” says Norris. “This has been happening for decades. It’s a national support effort. Somebody might work on a forest but they’re often supporting the emergency response nationwide.”

Norris says Missouri’s natural wildfire season is in the spring and fall. Western states have more wildfires during the summer months.

He says some Missouri members might be assigned to hurricane relief efforts when they return from firefighting assignments.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Filed Under: News

Subscribe to our daily newsletter


Tweets by Missourinet

Sports

Ex-Chiefs coach charged with felony DWI

Former … [Read More...]

Mizzou gets opportunity of a lifetime in 2022 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

Out of … [Read More...]

Marching Mizzou is one of only three universities performing in 2022 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

The … [Read More...]

Missouri State Football earns share of Missouri Valley title–first since 1990

Missouri … [Read More...]

Arenado: “Just an amazing day, very thankful for it,” after his homer leads Cards to victory

Nolan … [Read More...]

More Sports

Tweets by missourisports

Archives

Opinion/Editorials

TwitterFacebook

Copyright © 2021 · Learfield News & Ag, LLC