WILDFIRES

NBC News - Firefighters from coast to coast are battling wildfires as the country begins to prepare for the holiday season, with fires in New Jersey covering thousands of acres in tinderbox conditions created by a historic drought.The blazes in the Northeast have claimed at least one life: Dariel Vasquez, an 18-year-old New York Parks employee, was killed Saturday by a falling tree while battling a fire in Sterling Forest, on the border of New York and New Jersey. The Jennings Creek wildfire in Passaic County, New Jersey, close to the New York state line, had grown by  about 4.6 square miles and was only 10% contained as of last night, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said.

“Not only is the fire burning on top of the ground, but it’s burning under the ground, so it’s very labor-intense,” a local official said. “To put these fires out takes a lot of time and energy, and you can see by those numbers, we’ve been running our folks ragged”Much of the Northeast has been experiencing a record lack of rain, with some areas such as Philadelphia going without any precipitation for 42 days until a small shower yesterday.