The National Drought Mitigation Center in Lincoln, Nebraska,says
drought has produced an above-normal wildfire potential this
season along the leeward sides of all the Hawaiian Islands,
including the western third of Hawaii Island. Most of our state
has received above-normal precipitation, but not parts of Hawaii
Island. The result: the danger of out-of-control brush fires is
significant. Elsewhere on the United States mainland, the
situation is similar. The NDMC says snowpack was disappointing
in many states–in Colorado and Utah, they had only half the
usual snowpack. Colorado had its first wildfire of 2012 last
month in a conflagration that took 700 firefighters more than a
week to control the fire. January and February were the driest
on record in California. Hawaii County Fire Department warns
residents to clear brush from near their houses, and to have an
evacuation plan should there be a fire. They also warn that
tossing lit cigarettes out of cars is not only illegal, but not
trigger a fire. The Nationa