By Sid Perkins
Last year’s wildfire season, one of the worst in the past half-century, didn’t waste any time getting started.
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On Jan. 1, 2000, Florida chalked up the year’s first fire–a small blaze that was under control before it could spread more than an acre. Come late summer, firefighters were faced with a string of hot, dry days in which hundreds of thousands of acres were ablaze across more than a dozen states. Fire fighting resources were stretched to their limit. At the peak of the season, more than 500 new wildfires broke out each day.