Spring Brush Fire Season Off to an Early, Roaring Start

By AccuWeather.com senior expert meteorologist Alex Sosnowski
State College, Pa.– AccuWeather.com reports the spring brush fire season has gotten underway early this year, and people are urged to use extreme caution when burning debris outdoors.
The dead, dry grass, leaves and brush, combined with rising temperatures, low humidity, and locally gusty winds are the perfect conditions for spreading fires.
The unusual warmth over the past five months, in some cases with temperatures running 20 degrees above average, has been a major player.The warmth has fast-forwarded the spring brush fire season in many cases.
Higher temperatures, combined with a higher number of sunny days, have increased evaporation and drying conditions.
Storms have frequented the Atlantic Seaboard and the northern Plains this winter, leaving areas of flooding and saturated ground.
However, the brush has gotten very dry in some locations, especially in the Appalachians and much of the southern Plains.
Dry, warm weather this weekend has made the brush dry in many areas closer to the coast, including New England.
AccuWeather.com Expert Forensic Meteorologist Steve Wistar, who resides and maintains weather records in central Pennsylvania, stated that March 2010 brought a record amount of sunny days in the State College area. Steve has been keeping records since the early 1980s.
The vast majority of brush fires in the spring are caused by human carelessness.
In New York State, to improve air quality, a new law was passed during autumn of 2009, making the burning of trash or debris in a burn barrel illegal.
In many locations, a permit is needed for a controlled or agricultural burn. However, due to the exceptionally dry brush this spring in some areas, outdoor burning has been put on hold.
Some communities offer spring brush collection as a public service. In areas where this does not take place, people can safely have their brush hauled away for a small fee via private landscaping enterprises.
Avoid tossing cigarettes out of your car, and be careful using outdoor power equipment.
Hunters and fisherman should avoid parking on dry brush or grassy areas if their vehicle’s exhaust is hot.
Officials believe that a large brush fire that began Saturday afternoon near Scranton, Pa. on the East Mountain was initiated by a camp fire. A second blaze in the same area may have been intentionally set. Fortunately, no homes were threatened by the blazes.
As the landscape greens up and humidity levels rise, the threat of brush fires typically diminishes.