Two 200-plus acre wildfires in Warren County are not cause for celebration — but they could result in healthier forests.

A lot of volunteers and professionals took time away from their lives and put themselves in harm’s way to secure the borders of the fires and protect lives and property.

With those missions accomplished, it is possible to look at some other considerations.

“Being an active wildfire, and that much is still unknown, it’s hard to provide specific details on the potential consequences,” Allegheny National Forest Silviculturist Josh Hanson said. “With that said, from a forest health perspective this fire is not a catastrophic event.”

“The Smokey Bear campaign has unfortunately made people equate wildfires to something very bad,” National Wild Turkey Federation Wildlife Biologist Kristen Giger said. “Can they be catastrophic? Absolutely. But, they can be very beneficial.”

“We don’t want people to intentionally set wildfires thinking they’re doing the right thing,” Giger said. “But we don’t want them to panic.”

“Things are charred right now, but it’s going to be OK,” Giger said. “Next spring, you’re probably going to see a big flush of herbaceous growth.”

“Leaf litter, slash, and vegetation growing on the forest floor will be consumed by the fire,” Hanson said.

For the most part, established trees will survive.

“A high-intensity fire can kill trees,” Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Public Information Officer Wayne Wynick, who was part of a state response to the fires, said. “A gentle fire is generally good for the forest.”

“Concentrations of this fuel (leaves, brush and dead trees), steep slopes and windy conditions will create hotter conditions in some areas that could kill some of the larger trees,” Hanson said. “However, most of the vegetation will only be top-killed. The underground roots will remain alive, they will sprout several weeks after the fire, and the area will begin to green up as we move into the summer months.”

“This area of the forest does contain a higher proportion of oak forest types, which are considered to be fire-adapted ecosystems,” Hanson said. “Periodic fire is believed to be an integral disturbance in their long-term maintenance.”

“We have a lot of forests that are heavy to oak,” Giger said. “Oak responds very well to fire.”

Unlike some species, oak trees spend much of their early time and resources on downward growth, resulting in a hardy taproot that enables the tree to survive damage to its top.

“They generally will bounce back,” she said. “Nature has a very good way of dealing with natural events.”

Forest creatures will also bounce back. “Wildlife are extremely adaptable,” Giger said. Turkeys have been known to return to burned areas “while they are still smoldering.”

The fires were early enough in the season that many birds haven’t built their nests. “If there were any early nests… there’s a very good chance that they would have a second nesting attempt,” she said.

The area around Cobham Hill has not been ‘disturbed’ by fire in decades, according to U.S. Forest Service personnel.

In fact, the area was on the schedule for a prescribed burn – in which officials intentionally set fire to an area of forest or grassland to encourage growth of certain species.

“Cobham Hill Road runs along the northern edge of our Izenbrown Project area — a 2018 project that approved silvicultural treatments intended to restore, retain and regenerate oak habitat and associated plant and animal communities,” Hanson said. “One of those approved treatments in this project area is prescribed fire — approximately 5,800 acres of it — and one of those burns is planned to be implemented later this year.”

Another burn on the forest was under way at the time the Cobham Hill and Hemlock fires broke out.

“The Buzzard Swamp prescribed fire was located 23 miles southeast of the Cobham Hill fire,” Buzzard Swamp Burn Boss and ANF Acting Fire Management Officer Craig Kostrzewski said. “It is highly improbable that the 20 acres of grass burned at Buzzard Swamp could have resulted in spotting that would have caused the Cobham Hill fire. The distance is too great given the type of fuel, primarily grasses, that we burned.”

Officials continue to investigate the causes of the fires at Cobham Hill and Hemlock.