Fire crews try to 'adjust' to longer season

A member of the Big Bear Hot Shots crew from the San Bernardino National Forest stops to drink while cutting a fire line at the fire near Santa Barbara, Calif., on Sunday. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - In the past few years, Rich Nieto's work has started earlier and lasted longer. The regional fire operations director for the Southwest Coordination Center said the West's fire season used to stretch from May into August or September, starting with blazes flaring up in the Southwest's arid spring. But now fires touch off in April or earlier, and the season sometimes stretches into October, said Nieto, whose job entails allocating and moving ground-based firefighting resources. "We have to adjust accordingly," he said. A longer fire season can't be blamed solely on climate change or drought. More and more people want out of the cities and... [read full story]