Big Fires and Why

It seems like in late summer and early fall, someplace is always on fire. There are forest fires in the western mountains, in California, Florida and many other states. Fires are constantly in the news. So what's causing this? Are we having more fires today than we did 10 or 20 years ago?

The answer to the questions can be concluded from Mike Dannenberg. He works for the Bureau of Land Management, and his specialty is educating the public about forest fires.

"Numbers of fires are up a little bit, but not a lot on average," he says. "The intensity of the fires is up. Now, there's a lot of debate going on, global warming and all."

"In Montana, our fire season is 78 days longer than it was 10 years ago. When I started my career 30 years ago, a 5,000-acre was a big fire. Today a quarter of a million acres is considered a big fire. Big difference, major change, the intensity of those fires. We've got a lot of fuel build up. We've got the warmer, drier temperatures. Everything's lining up to create, what some people are calling mega fires."