Deep drought fueling White Mountains forest fire that has reached historic scale

On Thursday night, while crews from across the country battled a wildfire in the dense woods of the White Mountain National Forest, residents of nearby communities and officials with the U.S. Forest Service crowded into the Shelburne Town Hall. The blaze, which according to officials grew to a peak of nearly 1,000 acres since it began on Sunday but was reduced to 856 acres as of Thursday night, is highly unusual for the region. “We’re not used to fires of this size here in New England. This is, unofficially, the largest fire in the White Mountain National Forest’s history since its creation,” said Derek Ibarguen, forest supervisor. Drought conditions during the last two years have made the forest much more flammable than it would be under average conditions, said Ryan Hughes, incident commander with the Forest Service, during the meeting. About 40% of New Hampshire, including much of Coös County, is currently experiencing moderate drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

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