U.S. Department of the Interior
Office of the Secretary

Tom Amontree 202/720-4623 Dave Vickery 208/387-5458


For Release: June 28, 1996

DENVER -- Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman and Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt today urged people who live in or visit Western states this summer to help prevent wildfires during what is developing into one of the most severe fire seasons in recent history.

Federal records show that almost twice as many fires have occurred, consuming almost four times as many acres as is normal for this time of year. Specifically, nearly 68,000 wildfires have burned more than 2 million acres of land, compared to the five-year average of around 40,000 fires burning about 700,000 acres by this time. Today about 10,000 Federal and state fire personnel are fighting fires in six states. So far this year, in Colorado alone, there have been over 800 fires that have consumed about 54,000 acres. "All of the agencies involved in the Federal firefighting efforts have been preparing to meet the challenge posed by this year's dry conditions," Glickman said. "We have equipment strategically placed throughout the country, ready to respond quickly to urgent situations. In anticipation of this fire season, the Clinton Administration has released an extra $100 million for firefighting and requested an additional $109.5 million for firefighting next year. Additionally, the administration has made a commitment to provide whatever resources are necessary to deal with this year's severe fire threats." In addition, Federal agencies took a number of steps earlier this spring to address areas with high fire potential, including activating firefighters earlier than normal; contracting air tankers to provide close initial attack support in places where homes and other structures are located in undeveloped areas; and strategically positioning infrared scanning aircraft.

The 1996 fire season has already hit home for hundreds of people who live in or near wildland areas, known as the "wildland/urban interface." Nearly 400 homes and structures have been destroyed by blazes in Alaska, New Mexico, Colorado and California this year. Over the past 10 years, approximately 9,000 other homes and structures have been destroyed by wildfires.

Babbitt and Glickman urged people who own homes in the wildland/urban interface to help protect their houses by taking steps to make them fire-safe and to create defensible space for firefighters. "Although wildland firefighters are not trained or equipped to fight structural fires, they often protect homes from advancing wildfires," said Babbitt. "That is a difficult task in the best of circumstances, but is often made impossible due to the large amounts of natural overvegetation that surround homes and structures."

"Last month I visited the Buffalo Creek fire, just outside Denver," Glickman said. "I met a woman who had lost her home and nearly all of her possessions in the fire. This is the kind of loss we are striving to avoid. However, with more and more people building homes near to and within the woods, incidences of fire threatening homes will continue to increase."

Heavy vegetation (fuel) accumulation is a primary contributor to the hazardous conditions in the West. Federal land managers recognize that it is important not only to prevent wildfires, but also to minimize their impacts by reducing heavy fuel accumulations. Babbitt said, "One of the reasons we've experienced such severe fire seasons in recent years is that for most of the last century we have not allowed fire to play its natural role in the environment." Earlier this spring, Babbitt and Glickman endorsed a new Federal wildland fire management policy emphasizing the reduction of fuel accumulation through prescribed fires that require specific, pre-determined conditions. Prescribed fires may be ignited by resource managers or by natural events, such as lightning. "With the new emphasis on ecosystem management as a basis for guiding public land decisions, fire is being better recognized as an important management tool," Glickman said. ##