News
Could the Northeast Burn Again?
After the region’s worst wildfires in decades, key state fire managers reevaluate a future climate defined by volatility.
By Olivia Gieger
The last time wildfire radically engulfed New England was in 1947. Deadly blazes ripped through Bar Harbor, Maine, and down the state’s coast. Fires raged for over a month, leaving thousands of people homeless and ravaging 220,000 acres. In its aftermath, all six New England states and New York banded together to form the Northeastern Forest Fire Protection Compact (NFFPC), which five Canadian provinces have since joined, to prevent future runaway blazes.