Warm Weather, Dry Conditions Could Mean More Wildfires in Northeast

Northeastern states are not known for frequent wildfires and brushfires. But that could be changing this spring as the region faces record-high temperatures and unusually dry conditions. “With more than 15,000 temperature records broken in the U.S. in March 2012 alone, combined with low precipitation and little or no snowpack across much of the nation’s lower 48 states, this year could be very active one for wildfires and brushfires, including parts of the Northeast where such events are relatively uncommon,” said Robert Hartwig, president of the Insurance Information Institute in New York.