DCNR says ‘tinderbox’ conditions leading to wildfires
State conservation officials are warning that conditions are ripe for wildfires in southwestern Pennsylvania as crews spent the weekend battling blazes in the Laurel Highlands east of Washington and Greene counties.
Leland Jordan, the region’s fire specialist supervisor for the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, said the lack of rain in recent days has led to a “tinderbox” that could easily ignite and asked people to refrain from open burning during the dry weather.
“The conditions are extreme,” said Lee Jordan, the region’s fire specialist supervisor with the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. “It’s a tinderbox right now. The fires are blowing up.
Jordan and firefighting crews spent Monday working to control a wildfire that had consumed 20 to 30 acres in the Quebec Run Wild Area of Forbes State Forest near Elliotsville, Fayette County. He said the fire was reported about 8 p.m. Sunday, but the topography was too dangerous to get crews to the area during the night. A helicopter assisted crews fighting the fire, Jordan said.
He said that fire in Fayette County came a day after a larger fire was reported on 100 acres of state game land near Seward, Westmoreland County. Nearly 30 other brush fires were reported in Fayette County over the weekend, he said.
Dry conditions are expected to continue over the next couple of days, according to Pat Herald, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh. He said the area won’t experience rain until Wednesday night at the earliest with about a half-inch expected to fall by Thursday.
“That should alleviate most of the problem,” Herald said. “It’s a good thing the wind has been light.”
He said the conditions are conducive for wildfires right now because of the dry air mass over the area, but the weather service has not issued any advisories because of the light winds.
A Washington County 911 supervisor reported “a few” brush fires in that county Sunday night, but no major issues over the weekend. Greene County Emergency Services Director Greg Leathers said they had no reports of brush fires in their area this weekend.
Jordan and other DCNR officials want to keep it that way.
Open fires are not permitted on state forestlands from March 1 through May 25 or any time the fire danger is listed as high, very high or extreme. DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn asked residents across the state to be cautious.
“One act of carelessness could prove disastrous among tinder-dry conditions in some of our forests, where wildfire dangers climb with each day of sun and wind,” she said. “One has to only look back to last month to see how fires spike quickly when the combination of sun, wind and lack of rain create tinder-like conditions. We remind folks to be careful with campfires and backyard burning, and to take the proper precautions at all times.”