2022 Wildland Fire Program Annual Report

What is our mission?

The wildland fire program safely and effectively manages wildland fire to enhance and protect life, property, and natural resources for the public benefit within Pennsylvania.

Our program at a glance:

·         17 million acres of lands protected from wildfire

·         10 million acres of Wildland-Urban Interface and Intermix

·         952 volunteer Forest Fire Wardens

·         329 fire-qualified employees

2022 Wildfire Season

Pennsylvania’s 2022 wildfire season was slightly above average. 1,034 wildfires were reported during the calendar year. This marks the third year in a row where the state has reported over 1,000 wildfires, a streak that has not been occurred since the 1980’s. The largest wildfire of the year occurred in early November in Centre County.

The Big Fill wildfire was the largest wildfire of the year, burning almost 700 acres in southwestern Centre County during early November. DCNR staff photo.

·         1,034 Wildfires

·         2,685 Acres Burned

·         99 % of Wildfires were Human Caused  

·         4 Residences Destroyed

·         26 Other Structures Destroyed

·         11 Injuries

Wildfire Prevention and Mitigation

Employees and volunteers conducted 450 wildfire prevention activities and events over the course of 2022. Volunteers donated 2,550 hours during these events.

Incident Management Teams

Despite several requests, the DCNR IMTs did not deploy over the past year. There were two instances where the teams were requested for searches that were cancelled while the team members were responding.

·         14 searches reported in 2022

·         3 individuals self-extracted

·         Two searches unfortunately concluded with fatalities

·         22 personnel completed the first Search Manager course held since 2019

During 2022, a new command trailer was procured for incident management teams with funding from the USDA Forest Service. DCNR Staff photo.

Volunteer Fire Assistance

122 Volunteer fire organizations were awarded grants totaling $744,918 to purchase wildland firefighting PPE and firefighting equipment during the past year. These cost share grants are made possible by funding through the USDA.

Fire Cache

·         170,000 items received

·         118,000 items issued

·         21,200 delivery miles

·         Cache supported mobilization of crews, engines, overhead, and training

Federal Excess (FFP/FEPP)

Over 1000 items valued at $1.5 million were obtained through the federal excess programs for distribution to local fire departments.

Air Operations

·         18 wildfires supported

·         109,000 gallons dropped on wildfires

·         77 hours flight time on wildfires

·         81 hours flown for fire reconnaissance

Wildland Fire Crew

2022 was again an active year for wildfires throughout the nation. Assistance provided to our partners across the nation:

·         Four (4) Twenty-Person Type 2IA Hand Crews

·         Two (2) Wildfire Suppression Modules

·         Five (5) Type 6 Wildland Fire Engine Assignments

·         67 Single-Resource Overhead Assignments

·         185 Total Resources Assigned

Susquehanna Suppression Module on the Shawnee National Forest in Illinois, November 2022. This assignment was the first for the program to Illinois.

Wildland Fire Training and Qualifications

·         83 classroom training sessions

·         1,168 students completed classroom courses

·         469 students completed online training courses

·         532 students completed refresher training, RT-130

·         130 Position Task Books Issued

·         65 Position Task Books Completed

268 students received training at the annual Pennsylvania Wildland Fire Academy, Shippensburg University and Michaux State Forest. June 2022. DCNR staff photo.

Prescribed Fire

63 prescribed burns covering 1,749 acres of DCNR lands were completed. Statewide, 441 individual burns were conducted on 14,472 acres. This is a reduction in acreage burned, but wet conditions in the spring limited opportunities.

Prescribed fire conducted at the Milton Hershey School via cooperative agreement, Dauphin County, March 2022. DCNR staff photo.

DCNR would like to thank everyone who assisted the wildland fire program in 2022, especially our valuable network of volunteers. We could not succeed without your dedication and service!

For more information on our program click here.