MONROE COUNTY, Pa. — While our recent weather makes for the perfect day, DCNR Warden William Deaton says the sunny and warm, windy and dry conditions are the perfect combination to fuel a wildfire.
Deaton says wildfire season is starting earlier and lasting longer than normal.
"Normally, the wildfire season in Pennsylvania is April through mid-May, at least in the Northern part of the state. We've already seen, as of today, were on our eighth fire within the Monroe Pike area," said Deaton.
That number is only expected to go up. Deaton says last year DCNR responded to just over 1900 wildfires where more than 9,000 acres burned.
It's the fourth year in a row with above-average numbers.
"Last year, we had fires going to June, so even in the Southern part of the state, while every firefighter was at the academy there was fire going in the middle part of the state. We had three significant fires statewide last year. The largest was the Crystal Lake fire over in Luzerne County which was over four thousand acres," added Deaton.
This wildfire season, officials are trying to take a proactive approach before the season fully ramps up. Deaton says debris burning is the number one cause of wildfires in the state.
But there are certain times you can burn when the risk of fire is low.
"Not windy, wait for a day where you've had some rain ahead of time. Make sure that you have a good buffer zone away from those fires. So you don't want to be burning right up against the woods. If you've got a field do it in the middle of the field" said Deaton.
Wildfire season typically ends by mid-May, but Deaton expects it to last a bit longer this year.