BOISE, Idaho, June 25 (UPI) -- Only four days into summer, wildfires are already burning in record numbers as experts fear drought conditions mean a dangerous U.S. wildfire season.
Statistics complied by National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, show the 3.2 million acres burned by 54,686 fires already this year tops the 10-year average of 39,240 fires burning a million acres.
Although the fires have been mostly contained, experts say the dry ground is ripe for a worst-case scenario.
Most fires have been in the rural, less populated areas of the western United States, but as of Saturday 23 fires were threatening populated areas in 10 states -- including a week-old blaze that has charred 42-hundred acres near Sedona, Ariz., over the past week -- The Los Angeles Times reports.
CNN said some of the hundreds of evacuated Arizona residents were being allowed to return home Sunday.
Wildfire season usually picks up at the end of summer and into fall and meteorologists say heavy rain in just the right spots could alleviate the danger.
