Winter wildfire season is upon us
While many people are busy planning for the holiday season and dreaming of a white Christmas, fire officials say people are often caught off guard of by a threat that manifests each winter.
From November 2016 through February, Oklahoma City firefighters responded to more than 450 wildfire calls in the metro, according to Battalion Chief Benny Fulkerson.
Fulkerson said people might not know of the state’s two distinct wildfire seasons, adding that many people might think of the hot summer months as the main threat. Once vegetation becomes dormant, humidity drops and winds increase, all it takes is a spark to create a wildfire, he said.
“I think, honestly, a lot of times people aren’t really concerned too much of anything emergency-wise until it kind of affects them,” he said. “I think around the holidays, people are busy. They’re thinking about the holidays, they’re thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas and the New Year and all these things.”
Late fall through early spring, the months that typically have the lowest amount of precipitation across the state, account for the majority of wildfires in the state, according to the Oklahoma State University Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service.
John Pike, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service's Norman office, said modeling from the Climate Prediction Center could lend to more favorable conditions for wildfire weather.
“Warmer and drier,” Pike said, referring to the forecast for above-average temperatures and below-average chances for precipitation in the one- and three-month outlooks.
From Jan. 1 through late March, more than 450,000 acres of woodlands and grasslands burned. The largest of the fires was part of a multistate outbreak in March that left more than one million acres burned across four states, including more than 307,000 acres torched in northwestern Oklahoma.
Three people and thousands of head of cattle and hogs were killed in Oklahoma as a result of the fires.
State forester George Geissler told The Oklahoman after the fires were contained that most were “human caused,” set off by discarded cigarette butts, chains dragging from vehicles and other activities that produce sparks.
Fulkerson said a number of fires come from residents who have a permit to burn legally but who lose control of the fires. He said mowing, welding and outdoor cooking are also common sources of wildfires.
“That’s all it takes when the conditions are right with the weather for a grass fire to take off. It takes so little," he said.
Fulkerson said wildfires are often more intense than battling a structure fire, adding that while a structure fire may threaten buildings on either side, a wildfire can threaten whole neighborhoods and requires a larger effort by firefighters.
Precautions
Fulkerson said he expects the winter wildfire season to be on par with years past, but said there are a number of things residents can do to limit potential damage to their property.
“What people do up front, on their end, has everything to do with how successful we are on our end in protecting their property,” he said. Tips include:
•Keep your yard mowed, at least 100 feet from your property if you live on a number of acres.
•Keep trees pruned six to eight feet off the ground. Burning trees are often the source of embers that can be blown by the wind and create additional fires more than a mile away.
•Make sure there are no tree limbs overhanging the roof of your house. The trees can catch the roof on fire and leaves they’ve dropped can help feed the fire on top of your home.
•Keep gutters clear of leaves. Leaves make great tinder and an ember landing in a pile of leaves in your gutter can lead to a house fire.
•Keep any materials that could catch fire, such as wood, doghouses and other items, away from the sides of your home.
“We are moving into that time of year where we know that the propensity for the grass fires and the frequency of the grass fires is going to increase. We do want people to be aware that it is something that we deal with and it can affect everyone, we have to be mindful of that,” Fulkerson said.