Ask the Staff: Spring Wildfires

 Why is Spring the most dangerous time for wildfires in Pennsylvania?

If you look outside during Spring here in Pennsylvania, you’re sure to notice that our trees are quite bare, allowing sunlight to more readily hit those forest floors. That sunlight warms the forest floor and dries out the fuels – primarily leaf litter from the previous fall, as well as small diameter branches and twigs. Consider our past few winters - they’ve been fairly mild, and that works against us. The lack of snowpack that typically would compact the leaf litter into a layer that’s more difficult to burn, is already fluffed up and more receptive to ignition. Something else we all look forward to in the Spring is the days getting longer, and warmer – this provides more time for sunlight to warm up and dry the fuels. Combine this drying with the windy Spring days and you have a much larger number of combustible fuels. These two things – dry fuels and windy conditions – are part of the three conditions necessary for a wildfire to occur, the only thing missing is an ignition source.

In Pennsylvania, 99% of wildfires are caused by people. Springtime is typically seen as a perfect time to burn leaf litter, especially after cleaning up flower beds, gardens, and yards. A careless person burning trash or yard waste can be responsible for causing wildfires that threaten homes, property, and lives. These debris fires typically start in a backyard and use the dead grass and leaves to get into the bordering woodlands.

However, wildfires can occur during any month and any time of day. Please be careful when burning, check with your township for burn bans, and local ordinances on burning, and consult the Smokey Bear website for valuable tips on home protection, proper backyard debris burning, and campfire safety among others.

 

Katalynn Dildine

Wildland Fire Operations Technician

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.

Counterfeit Fire Shelters

We recently received notification from a US Forest Service Equipment Specialist that there were counterfeit fire shelters for sale on a company called CPR Savers. As of February 24, 2023 the shelters were removed from the website and are no longer available.

"This same company contacted me around July 2023 saying they had shelters available to help with the pre/post 2006 replacement efforts. They provided me with a spec sheet, it is also attached. I have emailed the initial contact from CPR Savers asking if they know who the manufacturer is, if there is a distributor, and who it is as well as any documents that verify it was built to 5100-606B. I will share the information as it comes available.

 

First off, 5100-606B was released in March 2005 and has been superseded twice. The current revision, 5100-606D came out in 2020 and it’s predecessor, 5100-606C came out in 2011. Other differences are as follows:

Carry Case

·  Lighter weight (denier) nylon

·  No NFES markings on flap

·  No USE INSTRUCTIONS on instruction pocket

·  Danger label (used only by Anchor Ind.) sewn on not heat pressed

·  Use instructions are different paper and printed single sided in English only, no Spanish on opposite side

·  No label sewn into main body/flap junction

 

HDPE Liner

·  Not present

 

PVC bag

·  Wrong PVC material

·  Red tear strip wrong material

·  Pull strap wrong sewn dimensions

·  No LARGE stenciled onto pull strap

·  Reinforcement tape incorrect

·  No paper insert label in bag

 

Shelter

·  Folded incorrectly

·  Wrong laminate materials

·  Shake handles not Kevlar

·  Shake handles not labeled “LEFT” and “RIGHT”

·  Stitch margins and gauge are incorrect

·  Wrong tape for binding and hold-down straps

·  No sewn in label

 

This is not an exhaustive list, just what is fairly easily identifiable."

See pictures below of the counterfeit shelters and a screenshot of the listing before it was pulled down.

These shelters have the potential to be lethal in a real emergency situation if they are used. This can serve as a reminder of why it is good to double-check your shelters before the season starts.