High winds, dry ground, and low humidity make the perfect conditions for brush fires to spread.
“They can burn a few acres in just a matter of seconds,” said Michael Downey, the assistant director for wildfire mitigation and prevention with the Virginia Department of Forestry. He said spring fire season is here and everyone needs to be careful.
“Even as simple as a barbeque grill can start a wildland fire,” said Downey.
Roanoke County Fire & Rescue crews spent the past couple of days containing two separate brush fires. Community Outreach Coordinator Brian Clingenpeel said they’ve increased staffing in case the fires ignite again.
“There’s still lots of fuels and debris on the ground that can burn. And so that’s our concern for today,” said Clingenpeel.
Virginia has an annual spring burn law, which prohibits outdoor burning before 4 p.m. from Feb. 15 to April 30. With Wednesday’s high fire risk, Roanoke County and Roanoke City also issued total burn bans for the rest of the week.
“Typically, what the fire marshal will do is still allow recreational fires,” said Clingenpeel. “That’s not even allowed in this case. There is to be no open burning of any kind outside.”
Downey said these bans aren’t just to protect the public.
“A lot of these policies and procedures are in place not just for the public, but for firefighter safety,” said Downey. “We get fatigued after a time. So when we only have one to two field staff per county and you’re running fire after fire all day, it can be pretty tasking.”
Roanoke City’s burn ban runs through Saturday, while Roanoke County’s will be lifted at 4 p.m. on Friday.