Warm conditions hindering wildfire efforts

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, July 10 (UPI) -- Alaska's state Division of Forestry says warm and dry conditions throughout the state are hindering firefighters' attempts to extinguish dozens of wildfires.

The Anchorage Daily News reported Thursday 11 new wildfires were reported Wednesday in Alaska, bringing the current total of wildfires ravaging the state to 71.

The largest ongoing fire is the Minto Flats South fire near Nenana, Alaska, which has covered 134,000 acres to date.

The wildfire's path of destruction brings the current 2009 tally of burned lands in Alaska to nearly 678,000 acres.

Forestry division spokesman Matt Weaver said firefighters are awaiting better weather conditions before taking an offensive stance against the Minto Flats wildfire.

The forestry division said while rainfall Wednesday did help slow the state's ongoing fires, precipitation levels were too low to extinguish the blazes.

The Daily News said the National Weather Service predicted dry and warm conditions in the Anchorage area through the weekend.