When April rolls around, Jack Owen usually considers himself lucky if any homeowners call his firm to come out and remove brush from around the house. But this is one dry year for Oregon, and that means Wildfire Fuels Reduction is grinding up trees and bushes as fast as it can.

By this time last year, Owens' business in Bend had only done $1,200 in business. This year, he's raked in $18,000.

"It just isn't wet or mushy," he said. "At this time last year, one reason I didn't have much business was too much snow on the ground."

A dry, warm winter across the Northwest, from Wyoming to Washington, has fire managers and forecasters holding their breath. Experts in some areas say they can't remember the last time the snowpack was this bad.

In the Southwest, it's the opposite. So much rain has fallen in Southern California and Las Vegas that residents there make jokes about living in Seattle. People in the Sierra Nevada are still digging out from snowstorms.

Strangely, though, both face the same worry: Conditions are ripe across the West for a potentially bad fire season. Even drenched states may not be safe - all that rain has grown plenty of tall, green grass that will be tinder when it dries this summer.

Minus record wildfires in Alaska, last year's fire season was over before it seemed to really start. But this year, the fire season could get ugly. And if things get bad, there are a number of reasons they are likely to get worse.

For one, there's less money for emergency situations if fires get out of control.

Because last year's fire season was mild, there is leftover money - $150 million - that can go toward suppression in 2005. But emergency funding, money that can only be used after the suppression money is depleted, dropped severely for 2005, from $699.2 million to just $394.4 million.

"It's a concern, but we've implemented a significant number of cost management measures with our incident management teams and folks out there on the fire line looking at what we can do to cut our costs," said Alice Forbes, assistant director of operations for the Forest Service at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

Some governors fear fewer National Guard troops will be available to fight fires because of the war in Iraq, though Rose Davis, spokeswoman for the NIFC, said plenty of other firefighters will be available.

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer has asked the Pentagon to return some of the state's troops and helicopters. In Washington, where a statewide drought emergency has been declared, Gov. Christine Gregoire has been cleared to activate members of the Guard as needed. Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano has already authorized more than $1.2 million for securing firefighters and equipment.

"People are very nervous," said Heath Hockenberry, predictive services meteorologist at NIFC.

NIFC says the role of the Guard is a state issue, and a lot of what it provides is ground transportation, which should also be available in the private sector.

"We're not worried about it," Davis said. If it turns out the Guard is needed, NIFC would work with state governors on getting the troops to fires.

Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, told Schweitzer in a March 17 letter that he could not direct the early return of soldiers, but that half or more of each state's Guard force will be available to help in disasters.

Blum also said the Pentagon would help Montana acquire troops from other states if they are needed.

Northwest feels pinch

In parts of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana, the snowpack is only about 25 percent to 50 percent of normal, with Washington the worst off. The U.S. Drought Monitor, which tracks conditions across the country, shows vast tracts of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho to be in "exceptional drought," the worst of five drought categories.

"In a lot of places, there's no comparison," Tom Perkins, hydrologist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, said of the snowpack. "It's never been this low before."

The fire season in the Northwest states could start as soon as late May, but it will depend on spring rains and lightning. Rain in late spring could take the edge off the season, even with low snowpack. And lightning usually is the biggest wildfire spark.

"The wild card and the key element in our Northwest fire season is lightning," said Mike Fitzpatrick, predictive services coordinator for the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center. "We'll have to wait and see what spring brings."

All the tall grasses in parts of Nevada and southwest Utah are just waiting to carry a fire.

"Any spark, any dry lightning outbreak, there's going to be grass fires," Hockenberry said.

Eastern Arizona and New Mexico have a below-normal potential for wildfires, while most of western Arizona is facing an above-normal risk, Hockenberry said. Colorado's risk is normal. California ranges from below-normal to normal in the southern part of the state. Alaska, where 6.6 million acres burned last year, has gotten decent snow, but dry, stressed timber remains.

Equipment at the ready

When the season starts, firefighters hope as many as 20 heavy air tankers will be back on the job. That depends on whether a safety analysis to be completed by June 1 shows they are safe to fly. Seven of the 20 are already cleared to go.

The Forest Service grounded the heavy tankers last May for safety reasons because of several fatal crashes. Besides the heavy tankers, firefighters will have about the same number of single-engine planes, helicopters and military aircraft available, Davis said.

Twenty-seven single-engine air tankers will work exclusively for the Forest Service and Interior Department. Last year, there were 70 such tankers, but with another 50 tankers on call as needed this season, Davis said the agency is prepared.

In Oregon, Owen doesn't pay a lot of attention to predictions, but said he does know his customers aren't taking any chances this year.

"What I notice most is the phone ringing," he said.