FOREST FIRES: US Offers Mexico $10M To Help End Blazes

The US Agency for International Development on 5/19 agreed to spend $10 million to help fight fires in Mexico, sending firefighting equipment and supplies (Greenwire, 5/19) (Dawson/Henry, Houston Chronicle, 5/20). The equipment is due to arrive in Mexico by tomorrow (AP/Las Vegas Sun, 5/19). Texas state meteorologist Brian Lambeth said a storm system developing in the Caribbean could help douse the fires (Tom Bower, San Antonio Express-News, 5/20). But Nicaraguan weather service chief Francisco Rosales warned that such precipitation would likely be acid rain (Agence France Presse, 5/20). Meanwhile, Mexican authorities have arrested 106 people in connection with setting some of the fires (Washington Times, 5/21).

Haze: A Farmer's Friend?

Smoke from the fires is screening sunlight in Texas and slowing moisture evaporation in crop fields, according to some Texas farmers. Bexar County Extension Agent Joe Taylor: "Actually, it's been beneficial, believe it or not" (Elizabeth Allen, San Antonio Express-News, 5/19).

Smoke May Boost Smog Awareness – Editorial

A Dallas Morning News editorial: "If anything good has come the crisis, it is that Texas at last may have been sensitized to the dangers of very tiny smoke particles. State environmental officials should quickly install monitors to help them ascertain the extent of the problem from industrial and other sources" (5/19).