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National
Despite Rise in Wildfires, Thousands of Americans Are Moving to Fire-Prone Western States
Although wildfires have become more intense, scorching a record 10 million acres last year, some 450,000 people have settled in the most fire-prone Western forests and scrub-covered slopes from Colorado to California, raising their population to 3.5 million since 2000, reports USA Today writer Brad Heath, quoting Endangered Habitats League President Dan Silver, who said, ''Smart growth means not building in high-fire-risk zones. That's stupid growth and everyone pays the price for it.''
The federal cost of fighting wildfires reached almost $2 billion last year, the writer notes, and this season and future years are likely to get worse.
Climatologists are cautioning that ''even warmer and drier weather could turn Western forests clogged with dead and dying trees to tinder, ideal conditions for fire,'' and insurers are considering higher rates, with Allstate ready to stop taking new insurance applications this July in California, where 240,000 people have moved to easily burning southern hills near Riverside and San Bernardino.
The wildfires have prompted Western cities and counties to rethink ''how and where people should build homes,'' to minimize danger for themselves and firefighters, the writer adds, quoting U.S. Forest Service firefighting chief Tom Harbour.
''This is a lesson that's been learned in the blood of our firefighters for many years,'' he said. ''We need to be telling people that just because you built something here, we're not going to die for it.'' -- USA Today 5/11/2007
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