Rain is scarce in the Amazon. Instead, mega fires rage.

RIO DE JANEIRO - By this time of year, rain should drench large parts of the Amazon rainforest. Instead, a punishing drought has kept the rain at bay, creating dry conditions for fires that have engulfed hundreds of square miles of rainforest that normally doesn't burn.

The fires have turned the end of the dry season in the northern part of the giant rainforest into a crisis. Firefighters have struggled to control massive blazes that have sent choking smoke to cities across South America.

A record number of fires so far this year in the Amazon has also raised questions ...