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Wildfires in eastern U.S. put strain on fire departments

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Wildfires have been flaring up across the Northeast for weeks as the region continues to experience unusually dry conditions. As Craig LeMoult of member station GBH reports, the situation is putting a strain on fire departments and local budgets.

(SOUNDBITE OF WATER RUSHING)

CRAIG LEMOULT, BYLINE: Firefighter Peter Curto uses a hose to soak the charred ground at the woods in a residential neighborhood of Braintree, Massachusetts.

PETER CURTO: Since the temperature's gotten lower, it drives the smoke down. So we just got to hit the hot spots before they ignite again.

LEMOULT: Like many fire departments across the Northeast, they've been working for weeks to hold back an unusual surge in wildfires. Fred Viola is the acting chief of the Braintree Fire Department.

FRED VIOLA: It's so dry, so deep. The old moss and all the old grass and leaves and everything that's underneath there is smoldering. And when the wind kicks up, it flares up. So it's - yeah, we've been here all week just doing that. And it's so dry. We just need some rain.

LEMOULT: There hasn't been a serious rain in Massachusetts in two months. About half the Northeast is in a state of drought, and the rest is abnormally dry. And that's led to significant wildfires across the region, including in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Alex Belote is with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation's Bureau of Forest Fire Control and Forestry.

ALEX BELOTE: In October, there was about a 1,200% increase over what we normally get. Normally, we'd be getting in the range of, you know, 20 or 30 fires.

LEMOULT: He says Massachusetts saw over 500 wildfires last month.

BELOTE: All these fires are human-caused. So these are caused by campfires that aren't put out. These are caused by disposal of ashes, people burning leaves in their backyard.

LEMOULT: Even the hot engine from a lawn mower or a leaf blower can spark a fire, he says. Fire officials have been pleading with people to be careful.

DENIS RING: Look at the ground right here.

(SOUNDBITE OF LEAVES CRUNCHING UNDERFOOT)

LEMOULT: Lieutenant Denis Ring of the fire department in Lynn, Massachusetts, walks through a local woods, where 427 acres have burned in recent weeks. The roots are still burning underground and ignite freshly fallen leaves.

(SOUNDBITE OF FIRE CRACKLING)

LEMOULT: Ring has been with the department for 19 years.

RING: This is the first time that I've fought fire this late into the season - these types of fires, these brush fires. So I don't know if it's going to become the new norm. I certainly hope not.

LEMOULT: Local fire departments in Massachusetts have a mutual aid system that lets them call in backup from neighboring towns and states when needed. And fighting wildfires is expensive.

RING: That will chew into our budget - those overtime costs - as well as the cost for the equipment. So I know that not just us but other departments around us, you know, are taking a pretty good hit in that manner.

LEMOULT: A USDA report from last year estimates the cost of just the federal government's fire suppression is well over 2 1/2 billion dollars a year. Peter Muller of The Pew Charitable Trusts has researched how federal and state governments budget for fighting wildfires.

PETER MULLER: Out West, states are used to very large fires, and they involve a lot of federal involvement because of the immense amount of federally managed land. That's probably not as much the case in the Northeast.

LEMOULT: Some federal reimbursement is possible if certain disaster declarations are made. But for the most part, in the Northeast, the firefighting costs fall to state and local governments. Michael Kelleher is president of the Massachusetts Fire Chiefs Association.

MICHAEL KELLEHER: If this is the new norm, we need to start making investments into equipment to combat these fires and personal protective equipment for our firefighters. I think that's important. And then training, we need to train on - you know, as the fire behavior changes and we look at different ways of which these fires evolve and spread, you know, we need to learn new tactics.

LEMOULT: For now, fire officials in the Northeast are keeping a close eye on the weather forecast. It's supposed to rain later this week, and they're just hoping it's enough to make a difference.

For NPR News, I'm Craig LeMoult in Boston.

(SOUNDBITE OF SURPRISE CHEF'S "PASH RASH") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Craig produces sound-rich features and breaking news coverage for WGBH News in Boston. His features have run nationally on NPR's Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Weekend Edition, as well as on PRI's The World and Marketplace. Craig has won a number of national and regional awards for his reporting, including two national Edward R. Murrow awards in 2015, the national Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi award feature reporting in 2011, first place awards in 2012 and 2009 from the national Public Radio News Directors Inc. and second place in 2007 from the national Society of Environmental Journalists. Craig is a graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and Tufts University.