Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff joined Interior Secretary and former Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne in Boise this week to tour the National Interagency Fire Center.

The two Cabinet members were at the center on Wednesday to learn more of how the center goes about coordinating national firefighting efforts throughout the West and nation.

While Idaho has had almost no fire activity this year, California has seen a slew of wildfires tear through that state, destroying homes and prompting mass evacuations. Last year, 2.5 million acres across the U.S. were burned by wildfires, including 1.9 million acres in Idaho. So far this year, about 400,000 acres have been charred, but officials say the California wildfire season started a month earlier this year and they expect it to be a very bad fire season.

Chertoff, who was making his first ever visit to Idaho, and Kempthorne also toured the Wildland Firefighters Monument. (Idaho Statesman, KTVB, KBCI)