Lack of rain ignites record-setting brush fires

By Ryan Smith

05/04/08 May 03, 2008 10:13 pm

— Much-needed rains have returned to the area for the start of May, leaving behind a warm, dry April that marked the worst month for brush fires throughout Crawford County in recent years.
With a total of 95 brush fires reported last month, the county had almost 15 times the number of such fires in April compared to the same time in 2007, according to Crawford County Office of Emergency Services officials, who said the numbers set a record for the last three years.
A majority of the fires, officials have said, resulted from a mixture of dry, warm conditions and wind. Putting those ingredients together with the apparent eagerness of some to burn off dead grass or garbage, it’s easy to see how flames can spread out of control quickly.
“People need to wait until (the ground and plants) green up a little more,” Chief Don Grinnell of Vernon Central Volunteer Fire Department said recently. “People just need to wait another month to burn off debris when it’s not so dry and it won’t spread as easily.”
And April was dry in northwestern Pennsylvania. The 2.27 inches of rainfall recorded in the region were over an inch below the normal amount of precipitation for the month, according to the National Weather Service at Cleveland.
The month’s warm weather and relative low humidity didn’t help matters either, according to NWS officials. At an average temperature of 51.2 degrees Fahrenheit, April was the seventh warmest on record, officials said. With data dating all the way back to 1874, NWS said the warmest-on-record April in the region was in 1921, when the average area temperature was 53.7 degrees.
When conditions are as such, according to Grinnell and other local fire officials, common sense is the best defense against fires. During periods when brush and grass fires are a substantial risk, the county OES supplies a burning index for area dispatch centers.
Officials advise that area residents pay close attention to those indexes, and firefighters offer a number of tips to avoid starting a grass or brush fire:
–– Don’t burn on a windy day.
–– Wait for an opportune time to burn — after a rain.
–– Wet the area around the fire so it won’t spread.
–– Keep any fire under close supervision; don’t set it and walk away.

Ryan Smith can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at rsmith@meadvilletribune.com. Previously-published material from Tribune reporter Keith Gushard was included in this article.

Did you know?
Last month marked the seventh warmest April on record in northwestern Pennsylvania with an average temperature of 51.2 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Weather Service at Cleveland. A new one-day record for the month was set on April 19, when the temperature rose to 84 degrees.
The warmest April on record in the region was in 1921, when the average temperature was 53.7 degrees. The old one-day record high was 83 degrees, set in 1941.
–– For more weather statistics, forecasts, storm warnings and more, visit NWS at www.erh.noaa.gov/cleveland on the Web.

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