CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The spring burning restrictions were lifted as of this past Sunday, but the West Virginia Division of Forestry still urges caution with any outdoor burning.
“Individuals can burn now whenever they choose, but folks are still required to have a 10-foot safety strip around their burn pile and they can only burn natural debris generated from their own property. They do still need to stay with the fire the entire time,” said Division of Forestry Director Jeremy Jones.
The restrictions are lifted now that West Virginia forests have the full leaf canopy overhead. The shady area of the dense forest doesn’t dry out as quickly after a rain, but a soaking rain is needed periodically to lessen the chances of fire. Jones indicated last summer was an example of where that became a major problem. There was not enough rain to sustain moisture in the woods despite the canopy. He hoped this summer would be better. It’s off to a good start, during the month of May a large number downpours slowed the forest fire rates significantly.
“The month of May was definitely a good reprieve and gave us all a good break from a busy March, that’s for sure,” he said.
Since the first of the year, Jones said the state has responded to 606 fires which consumed around 11,500 acres. According to Jones that’s a few more fires in number than they normally have by this time in the year, but the acreage is about normal or slightly less. The southern coalfields continued to have more fires than any other parts of the state. Jones said there was a myriad of reasons why those counties tend to have more fires.
“It’s a multitude of factors and terrain is one of the biggest. Plus a lot of large, corporate landowners down there mean there’s a lot of property that isn’t easy to access when there is an accidental fire,” he said.
The fall burning restrictions will not kick in until the first day of October, but Jones cautioned with this week’s warm temperatures it still dries moisture quickly and creates the right conditions for a fire.