beautiful weekend brought folks outside for the first time in many months, but it also had a down side. Division of Forestry officials say more than 700 acres of forestland burned across the state as conditions were ripe for a blaze.
“All it takes is a day or two of nice dry weather with wind and sunny,” said Division of Forestry Spokesperson Leslie Fitzwater, ” And we’re right back in danger of having forest fires.”
Kanawha County had the worst of the weekend with seven separate fires. The largest fire was 300 acres and another fire burned about 150-acres in the Charleston area. A sizable fire torched close to 300 acres in Cabell County near Salt Rock.
The fires are largely blamed on people burning debris which got out of hand. Fitzwater reminds people the burning restrictions are in place. All fires must be out by 7am and cannot be burned until 5pm. A person must stay with a fire until it is completely out. Plus, if it does get away from you, report it.
“One of the problems we had this past weekend was people were not calling the fires in,” she said. “If you have a fire get away from you, call 911 so we can get crews out there and get these firs under control.”