Look at the maps of current fires in our part of the country, and all the red dots look like a major case of the measles. Hundreds of thousands of acres lit up in the latter part of July, after the heat wave baked the landscape in the first part of the month.

As usual, many of the fires are burning on U.S. Forest Service land. We check in with Ed Hiatt, the Pacific Northwest Assistant Fire Director for Operations. He gives us a view of the overall fire picture, and just what it takes to get people and equipment assigned to all the fires.