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Firefighters try to contain the Lake County blaze, the worst of 21 major fires in California this year
The 2015 wildfire season is now the costliest on record, with
$1.71 billion spent to fight the blazes, the U.S. Forest Service said Wednesday.
The previous record of $1.67 billion, adjusted for inflation, was set in fiscal year 2002, U.S. Department of Agriculture communications director Matt Herrick said. (The Forest Service is part of the U.S.D.A.)
With the season nearly over, 9.8 million acres burned in 2015,
the second-highest total since records began in 1960, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. Only 2006, with 9.87 acres charred, had a higher total.
In addition, seven forest service firefighters died this year battling wildfires. Since 2000, on average, 18 firefighters have died each year fighting flames, the fire center reports.
Most of the fires hit the West and Alaska, which is typical. The size of the area burned this year is roughly equivalent to the states of Massachusetts and Connecticut combined.
Over the past 10 years, the Forest Service has spent $1.13 billion on average each year to fight wildfires. That amount does not include local or state costs to fight fires.
Comment: In the US, the 2015 wildfire season has already broken other records this year, whilst a study has shown that wildfire seasons are more destructive and lasting longer almost everywhere on Earth.