No Rain Likely in Fire-Plagued Southern States
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from the Associated Press — Firefighters battling forest fires in the South that have raced across more than 100,000 acres got little encouragement Thursday from weather forecasters, who predicted high winds and no rain for several days.
Winds carried burning leaves across fire lines and “conditions are deteriorating every day,” said Bruce Jewell, a spokesman in the U.S. Forest Service’s regional office in Atlanta. Many of the fires were blamed on arson.
There were 440 new fires covering 17,700 acres on Wednesday, said Forest Service spokesman Doug Williams. In the last week, 7,000 fires have burned more than 100,000 acres in the 13-state region from Texas to Virginia. Thursday’s fire figures would not be available until Friday, officials said.
Kentucky remained the hardest hit, with 95 fires covering 9,300 acres. The state received additional manpower Thursday.
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