Late-season wildfires choke US cities, towns with smoke
BOISE, Idaho — Heavy winter snow and a very wet spring in the Western U.S. generated predictions the 2017 wildfire season would be tame. But it’s shaping up to be one of the worst in U.S. history in land burned.
Across the region, smoky haze in cities and towns prevented people from going outside except for short periods and prompted potential bans of high school football games. In some areas where homes have burned, people have stayed in makeshift shelters for weeks.
Some of the biggest fires this year started in early September, when the wildfire season usually starts winding down.
A look at the impact of the fires across the region: