This year’s season began early and has been especially intense so far— the lack of snow over the winter, and record-breaking mid-March high temperatures, have resulted in very dry ground. There have been some major fires downstate, with Governor Cuomo declaring a state of emergency for part of Long Island Tuesday to fight wildfires there.

Fires in our region included one brushfire on the Northway this weekend that was triggered by a hot bearing that came off a passing truck.

It’s raining now in much of the North Country—and wet weather’s expected to continue at least through Wednesday. Nora Flaherty talked with Department of Environmental Conservation spokesman about what the wet weather means, and what the outlook is for the rest of the spring fire season: