With the crisp fall air starting to settle in, you may want to break out some s’mores with a fire pit on a cool evening, or start raking up those leaves in your yard and burning them. But the Virginia Department of Forestry is asking people to take some precautions during this time of the year, as forest fires are easy to spark.
Virginia’s fall fire season began Tuesday and runs through the end of November.
The Commonwealth experienced record-breaking fire seasons last fall, when 156 fires burned nearly 25,000 acres. In the spring, 411 fires burned 20,000 acres, according to the department of forestry.
Dry conditions over the past year, particularly during the summer, have led to greater concerns of wildfires. The National Integrated Drought Information System still calls parts of Northern Virginia and the Shenandoah “abnormally dry.”
“Whenever there’s less moisture in our forests, less moisture in plants, they’re going to combust more easily. So, that means a fire can start more readily and spread more quickly, and then be further driven by those windy conditions,” said Cory Swift, a communication specialist at the Virginia Department of Forestry.
Swift said the department will have resources staged across the state.
“We’ve been lining up helicopter resources. We’ve been lining up planes, and also just lots of personnel and additional bulldozers, trucks and all the sort of equipment that we need to respond and suppress wildfires,” he said.
Still, the department is asking for the publics’ help.
“The No. 1 cause of wildfire in Virginia is escape debris burning,” said Swift. This means burning residue from camp fires or leaf burning.
People should hold off on burning those raked leaves or trimmed branches until December, Swift said. But, if you absolutely need to, the best time to burn is right after it’s just rained on a flat surface during a calm day.
“Keep a rake and shovel on hand, as well as a water source like a charged hose and also your phone in case the fire escapes your control,” said Swift.
They also ask that you completely douse your fire with water until it is cool to the touch, and to completely soak cigarettes before disposing them in a trash can.
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