Numbers: Aug. 14, 2000

$15 million Amount the U.S. is spending daily to battle 70 forest fires in the West, the worst fire season to date in 30 years

3.85 million Number of acres scorched so far this year, roughly the size of Connecticut and Rhode Island

$61,833 Median family income in 1998 for households headed by baby boomers ages 45 to 54

$23,170 Median family income in 1947 for households headed by the same age group, adjusted for inflation

$35,000 Annual stipend that Stanley Kunitz, named U.S. poet laureate last week, will receive from the Library of Congress

$33,934 Starting salary for a security guard at the Library of Congress

23 Percentage of Internet CEOs who said that if trapped on a deserted isle, they’d eat a human to survive

6 Percentage of bricks-and-mortar CEOs who said they would do the same

Sources: National Interagency Fire Center; AP; Library of Congress; Jericho Communications