The agency spent nearly a quarter of a billion dollars on fires last week, officials reported. The costs are so high that the agency has already used up this year’s entire firefighting budget.
Firefighters work at the Rocky Fire on Aug. 2 near Clearlake, California.
Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
According to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, last week's national firefighting costs totaled $243 million, the Associated Press reported.
Vilsack also warned that the Forest Service will probably keep spending about $200 million a week fighting fires as the season drags on.
The fire season typically lasts through the summer and into the early fall in many parts of the western U.S.
The Forest Service is funded by Congress, but its budget for firefighting has now been completely exhausted, Vilsack said. As a result, the agency is having to dip into funds that were meant for forest restoration. Ironically, the forest restoration work was designed to cut down on wildfire risks.
Firefighters at the scene of the the Okanogan Complex Fire near Tonasket, Washington, Aug. 22.
Jason Redmond / Reuters
Virtually all of California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Nevada are suffering some level of drought. Large sections of Utah and Arizona also are seeing abnormally dry conditions.
That dryness has helped fuel bigger and more powerful wildfires in recent years, chewing through more and more of the Forest Service's budget. Earlier this summer, the agency said it was at a "tipping point," noting that half of its money now goes to fire suppression.
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