Local News

Wildfire season underway across Pennsylvania

There is still snow on the ground in some places, but wildfire season is under way.

County departments were called out to respond to three different confirmed vegetation fires in the span of one-and-a-half hours Sunday.

"The spring season - March through May - is when Pennsylvania faces its greatest danger of wildfires," Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Bureau of Forestry Cornplanter District Forester Cecile Stelter said. "As we move from winter into spring, the sun climbs higher in the sky and our days become longer and warmer. The deciduous or hardwood trees haven't produced their leaves, yet - so the sunlight can more easily reach the forest floor and warm the ground and dry out last year's leaves."

"Though the snow is just melting, leaf litter has dried out rapidly and coupled with wind presents a significant fire danger especially near build-ups of oak and beech leaves which do not decompose as rapidly as say maple because of their higher lignin content," Allegheny National Forest Public Affairs Officer Christopher Leeser said.

"Additionally, the fuels in fields and grassy areas are considered 'fine fuels' - not 'heavy' - so they can dry out very quickly and equally catch on fire very easily," Stelter said.

"During the spring season, we have strong, drying and erratic winds that can carry embers from a fire to a receptive fuel source - like a grassy field or pile of leaves," she said. "These same winds can 'push' the flames of a fire causing it to grow rapidly."

Those embers usually come from the actions of people.

"Spring is the season that a lot of people are cleaning up their yards," Stelter said. "99 percent of all wildfires in Pennsylvania are caused by people and the most prominent cause of wildfires in PA is debris burning."

There are several ways people can reduce the risk that they will be the cause of a wildfire.

"People should refrain from burning on windy days, have a water source and shovel on hand to put out the fire if is starts to get way or winds pick up, and make sure they have cleared flammable material, like leaf litter, well away from their burn barrel," Leeser said. "Most importantly, never leave that fire unattended. It just takes one gust of wind to spread burning embers and start a wildfire that could threaten human life and property."

Stelter provided the following list:

¯ Don't burn on windy days or when we haven't had any rain for several days;

¯ Keep the burn area or pile small - no larger than 4 ft in diameter;

¯ Avoid burning near utility lines, overhead limbs, buildings and other flammable objects;

¯ Maintain a cleared area (devoid of vegetation) of 10 ft around the burn area;

¯ Have a garden hose, rake and shovel ready and on-hand;

¯ Never leave the burn area unattended; and

¯ Completely extinguish the fire with water - mixing the water and ashes until there is no residual heat left in the fire area.

DCNR announced funding available for rural volunteer fire departments to help them fight wildfires.

"Weather can be friend or foe in our wildfire prevention and suppression efforts, but DCNR has no stronger ally - especially during these most difficult times of the pandemic - than the men and women of the volunteer fire companies serving rural areas and communities where forest and brush fires are common," DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn said. "To appreciate the value of well-equipped and highly trained wildfire fighters, one only has to look outside Pennsylvania to the horrific fires that sometimes plague other states."

"Wildfires continue to pose a dangerous and growing threat to our state's forests, economic interests and the communities that live and recreate near them," Fire Commissioner Bruce Trego said. "Grant programs like these are vital tools for state government to ensure volunteer firefighters get needed equipment and training so they may perform their jobs as professionally and safely as possible."

Local firefighting forces in rural areas or communities with fewer than 10,000 residents qualify for the aid. Grants may be used for training and equipment purchases directly related to fighting brush and forest fires.

"Grant applications must be electronically submitted through DCNR's grant website by 4 p.m., Thursday, May 13, 2021. To expedite applications and decision-making processes, DCNR is accepting only online applications," according to DCNR. "The key objective is to better equip and train volunteers to save lives and protect property in unprotected or inadequately protected rural areas. Grant recipients are selected based on vulnerability and adequacy of existing fire protection."

Aid is granted on a cost-share basis. Grants for any project during a fiscal year cannot exceed 50 percent of the actual expenditures of local, public, and private nonprofit organizations in the agreement. The maximum grant that will be considered from any fire company in 2021 is $10,000.

Browns Run fire

Wildfire broke out on Thursday north of Browns Run in Mead Township on the ANF.

"Initial attack and containment were successfully achieved due to the response and hard work of the Clarendon, Glade, Pleasant, Scandia, Starbrick, and North Warren Volunteer Fire Departments," according to ANF Acting Fire Management Officer Craig Kostrzewski. "Pennsylvania DNCR Bureau of Forestry and U.S. Forest Service personnel also responded to the wildfire."

"The 3.4-acre fire was 100 percent contained at 6:50 pm on March 11," Kostrzewski said. "The cause of the fire remains unknown."

"We appreciate the continued unified response and assistance of our local and state cooperators who assisted with the successful initial attack and suppression of this wildfire," he said. "Please be careful if you are burning brush or debris piles and make sure that all fires are properly extinguished. All wildfires should be reported immediately by calling 911."