In the Southwest, this summer’s fire season looks like the worst since 2002. Years of severe drought and fire suppression have left Arizona and New Mexico forests loaded with fuel and drier than diner toast, and this winter’s La Niña weather pattern parched them even more. The massive Wallow Fire has surpassed the 2002 Rodeo-Chediski blaze, which had been the biggest in that state’s history; both were apparently caused by people.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Wildfires burn big in Arizona and New Mexico.
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