Other Information – PA Fire Weather Awareness Week

Here we are on the last day of Fire Weather Awareness Week, and there’s some additional useful information we would like to go over with you.

Did you know that Pennsylvania has fire towers? There are 37 of them across the state to look out for smoke/wildfires in local forests. You can find the closest fire tower to you by clicking here for a StoryMap.

We also have Pennsylvania Wildland Firefighters who are trained and qualified to serve on organized incident management teams or wildland crews. Since 1973, over 200 crews from Pennsylvania have assisted with fire and disaster relief all over the country. To learn more about our wildland firefighters click here.

You can access the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Fire Danger maps, US National Weather Service forecasts, fuel moisture information, Storm Prediction Center Fire Weather Outlooks, weather observations, and more just by going to the NWS Fire Weather Page? Before you burn debris or start a campfire click here to check your weather conditions.

Fire awareness shouldn’t be limited to one week, take the time to educate yourself on how you can help prevent wildfires by clicking here. Remember to be aware of the weather conditions and take note when special weather warnings are issued in your area. Always check for burn bans by township, county, or even statewide.

Wildfire Safety - PA Fire Weather Awareness

Some simple tips to remember when it comes to wildfire safety are the discussion point for today. Learn how take on the responsibility of building a campfire correctly by picking a correct spot, prepare the pit, build, maintain and extinguishing them. Click here to learn more from Smokey Bear.

Did you know that debris burning is the leading cause of wildfires in Pennsylvania? A careless person burning trash or yard waste can be responsible for causing wildfires that burn thousands of acres of valuable Pennsylvania forests. Click here to learn more before you burn.

Other common causes of wildfire in Pennsylvania include smoking, vehicles, and outdoor equipment. This spring, do all you can to prevent sparking a wildfire.

Wildfire Communications - PA Fire Weather Awareness Week

Yesterday’s topic was wildfire communication, specifically about fire weather. Remember that a combination of low relative humidity, gusty winds, and dry fuel moistures, are the outline critical fire weather conditions. During these situations, Fire Weather Watches or even Red Flag Warnings can be issued to outline these conditions.

There may even be Special Weather Statements for fire weather as well. These can be issued by your local National Weather Service office when there is an elevated risk of wildfire spread here in Pennsylvania. However, in these instances, conditions do not warrant a Watch or Warning. On days when these types of statements are issued, fires can spread rapidly.

During fire season we issue fire danger maps to outline when there is an enhanced risk of wildfire ignition and spread. Before you burn, be sure to check the forecast Fire Danger for your area by clicking here or here.

 

The Science of Fire – PA Fire Weather Awareness Week

Let's continue Pennsylvania Fire Weather Awareness by talking a little bit about the science of wildfire and some statistics.

While wildfires can be dangerous when they spread rapidly, they can provide many benefits to our forests. Take some time to learn about how fire affects fire-dependent ecosystems from Smokey Bear by clicking here.

Looking at the data from DCNR’s reported wildfires here in Pennsylvania humans have caused 98.9% of all wildfires here since 2002. Lightning only causes 1.1% of them.

So, what causes wildfires then? It’s a simple equation of a spark added to fuel and oxygen. Then weather conditions can multiply the fire’s activity. To learn more about the elements of fire, click here.

What about prescribed burns? Well, to reduce catastrophic damage from wildfires local fire experts will complete prescribed burns under specified weather conditions to help restore health to our ecosystems. To learn more about them from Smokey Bear, click here.

Be sure to check back in the rest of this week for more beneficial information before we get well and truly into fire season here in Pennsylvania.

Fire Agencies in Pennsylvania - PA Fire Weather Awareness Week

Welcome to the first day of the Pennsylvania Fire Weather Awareness Week! Today let’s talk about the fire agencies in Pennsylvania.

First, let’s get us out of the way: the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Forestry (and Division of Forest Fire Protection). We protect 17 million acres of public and private lands from wildfire damage. Click here to go to the PA DCNR Wildfire page to learn more.

Next up we have the only National Forest in Pennsylvania: the Allegheny National Forest. The ANF Fire Program manages prescribed fires and some wildfires to the benefit of natural resources and reduces the risk of unwanted wildfires in the future. To learn more about the ANF click here.

We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the National Weather Service during an awareness week about Fire Weather! The forecasters at the NWS offices complete fire weather forecasts, post statements when conditions for wildfire spread become a threat, and they also complete and monitor spot weather forecasts for local prescribed burns to give detailed information directly to partner agencies.

Finally, we have the Pennsylvania Game Commission, who plan and complete prescribed burns on State Game Lands and other lands enrolled in the Hunter Access Program. Their goal with these prescribed burns is to help restore wildlands across the Commonwealth. To learn more about their prescribed fire program click here.

We hope that this information was helpful in getting to know your state fire agencies, stay tuned for more useful information! 

Pennsylvania Fire Weather Awareness Week

This year marks something new, sparked by the National Weather Service in State College March 4-8 is Fire Weather Awareness Week here in Pennsylvania.

You might be wondering, why is fire weather so important and why does it get a weeklong awareness event?

Fuel itself won’t just burn, there are a whole bunch of interconnected factors that will make conditions conducive to wildfires. Weather is the most variable element when anticipating fire behavior. The basic climate and weather factors temperature, atmospheric moisture, and wind patterns affect the fuel conditions and the tendency for fire start and spread.

We have done a deep dive into this in our post about Pennsylvania having a bimodal fire season, but here is a quick recap of what our fire seasons look like: our fire activity is at maximum in spring and fall, building warmth and dormant fine fuels in spring, leaf-off in fall, our season can extend well into summer if the jet stream remains active and brings windy or dry events that are preceded by dry conditions of two weeks or more (which happened last year), we also have little to no activity in winter months.

Some critical fire weather events to look out for are post-cold frontals, pre-cold frontal southwest wind cases, and Bermuda highs. Weather events that can slow or stop fire are cold frontal passage, stationary fronts, and closed lows.

Typically, we participate in Wildfire Prevention Week, so come along with us as we try out this new event!