Western states see late-season wildfire surge

A wet winter and spring in the western United States brought predictions that the 2017 wildfire season would be mild. It was anything but. In fact, it ended up to be one of the worst in U.S. history in the acres of land burned.

The smoke, the flames, the aching lungs, the evacuations --they're summertime facts of life in the U.S. West, where every wildfire season competes with memories of the previous destruction.

The foliage that sprouted from previous rain and snow has gone bone-dry in intense heat, officials said, feeding flames in places that have not seen downpours in months -- and strangling cities with smoke.

The biggest fires came after Labor Day -- a little later than usual in some states, when the fire season traditionally starts to peter out.

by STEVEN DUBOIS
Associated Press