Wildfire Season in High Gear. Local Chiefs Stress Prevention

As officials continue to investigate the cause of the wildfire that claimed 300 acres of woodlands near Canoe Creek State Park on Nov. 8, the question of how it spread so fast is no mystery. Dry conditions coupled with a steady wind created the perfect environment for the fire to thrive.

While wildfires are not a new occurrence this time of year with spring and fall being considered peak seasons for them, their frequency and scope has been on the rise.

Rising Danger

The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) reports that peak wildfire season is the spring months of March, April, and May, and in the fall from October through November when the ground is typically dry, and vegetation has either not yet bloomed or has been cycled out of its summer green. Recent winters of lower-than-normal snowfall along with increased outdoor activity have raised the summer wildfire dangers.

According to DCNR reports, the traditional wildfire season has expanded into the winter months and the number of wildfires has nearly doubled in the past 12 years. In 2023, Pennsylvania reported 1,910 wildfires that damaged 9,628 acres, the highest number recorded to date.

Since 1983, the first-year federal wildland fire agencies began tracking wildfire data, the number of reported fires and lost acerage has steadily increased, with 2023 seeing nearly double the fires and triple the damage as 1983.

Locally, two area fire chiefs say they have seen an increase in calls for wildfires, and because factors such as wind and dry conditions can help a fire get out of hand quickly, response time is vital, and a delay of a few seconds can turn a small brushfire into a raging wildfire.

Freedom Township Volunteer Fire Company Chief Ron Henry said his crews have been called out to wildfires five times in the month of November, a number he says is higher than normal.

Causes

DCNR reports that 99 percent of all wildfires in the state are caused by people. Henry, along with Friendship Volunteer Fire Company Chief James Musselman, said that number shows that wildfires are mostly preventable, and, in most cases, it only takes a bit of common sense to keep the land from burning.

Henry said that dry conditions and wind are a dangerous combination, and he sees too many people taking a chance by starting outdoor fires to burn yard waste and trash. Henry said people don’t understand how dry the ground is this time of year, and that a little rain gives them a false assumption that the ground is wet enough to burn safely.

“It has been so dry that even when we get rain it soaks iinto the ground quickly,” Henry said. “I’ve gone to outside fires where the person told me he thought it was safe because it rained, not giving any thought to how dry things really are.”

Musselman said most wildfires he has responded to were caused by human error, but not intentionally set.

“It’s really about using a little common sense,” Musselman said. “If there is any wind at all, don’t burn. One small ember can blow into the brush without you even knowing it and that’s all it takes to start a full-blown wildfire.”

The human factor in wildfires is not limited to outdoor burning. Musselman said his crews responded to an outdoor fire a couple of weeks ago that started when someone was mowing grass, and the mower blade struck a rock.

“That little spark caught some dry grass on fire, and it took off from there,” he said.

Henry said he has lost count of the number of people over the years who told him they had been burning for years and never had a problem. Until they do.

“People think starting a wildfire won’t happen to them because they are experienced at outdoor burning, but that’s not how it works” he said. “If you are someone who consistently burns outdoors while ignoring the danger signs like wind and dry conditions but has never had an incident, you are not an expert, you are lucky. If you keep taking chances, it will come back on you.”

Musselman said something as common as throwing a cigarette out of your car can lead to wildfire.

“We’ve all seen it. You are behind someone who is smoking in their car, and you see them toss it out the window. It’s something smokers do without even thinking about it. But if that lit cigarettes butt blows into a ditch where there are dry leaves, or blows into the woods, a wildfire can be the result.”

Henry agrees and says there are probably many instances where someone started a wildfire and never knew it.

“A cigarette out the window, maybe not fully extinguishing a campfire even though they thought they did, or a spark from equipment like a lawnmower,” he said. “Wildfires a lot of the time do not happen instantly. That cigarette or smoldering campfire could be there for a fair amount of time just waiting for that one gust of wind to come along and help it grow. By that time the person is long gone and has no idea they started a fire.”

Cost and Loss

Globally, the cost in dollars and lives caused by wildfires is staggering. The 2019- 2020 Australian wildfire alone claimed 17 million acres, 3,000 homes, 33 human lives, more than a billion in wildlife losses, and took nearly a year to fight.

More recently, the Canadian wildfires during the summer of 2023 burned nearly five percent of the entire forest area of Canada. It was intense enough that smoke from the fire affected the air quality in many parts of the United States, including Pennsylvania.

The National Interagency Coordination Center, which has been keeping data on wildfires since around 1985, reports that in 2023, wildfires claimed nearly 3 million acres across the country and cost nearly $3 billion to fight.

In Pennsylvania, DCNR reports nearly 2,000 wildfires claimed more than 9,000 acres of Pennsylvania forest.

Prevention and Payment

Most area municipalities have put a burn ban in place, putting a stop to all outdoor burning. Henry and Musselman said until conditions improve, it is simply too risky to start an outdoor fire.

When the ban is lifted, both Musselman and Henry said that should not be taken as though there is no longer a danger of wildfire.

“Every time you burn outdoors you have to take precautions and properly prepare,” Henry said. “That includes having an adequate water source close by, not burning when there is wind, and never leaving a fire unattended.

“I have been to quite a few wildfires where the person said he left the fire to do other things,” Henry said. “You are just asking for trouble doing that.”

Musselman said Roaring Spring Borough, where along with his fire chief duties he serves as fire marshal and borough council president, has an ordinance forbidding outdoor burning of trash and debris, but that does not include recreational burning such as fire pits.

“Fire pits and other recreational burning can also pose a hazard if safety measures are not taken,” he said. “I tell people that I would be happy to come to their homes to help them set up the safest recreational burning area possible.”