Springtime green reduces wildfire threat
KNOXVILLE (AP) — This week’s warm temperatures are helping keep the risk of wildfires down across Tennessee by bringing out the lush spring vegetation.
A 760-acre fire outside Winchester near the Alabama border has been burning since Wednesday and is nearly contained while smaller fires have flared up in White and Blount counties this week.
But state fire season, which runs from October 15 to May 15, has been average so far, and officials expect more of the same.
Low humidity makes fall and spring the most dangerous times in Tennessee for the threat of wildfires, many of which are caused by people burning debris, state forester Robin Bible said Friday.
The threat decreases as leaves appear and other vegetation becomes green and the humidity rises.
Temperatures in most parts of the state have reached the mid-70s this week. Memphis and Jackson reported highs of 78.
“I think it’s going to be average at this point unless it dries up. It seems to be greening up very fast here,” said Bible, who is based in Nashville. “If we have these temperatures continue in the 70s, it’s going to cause everything to pop out fast here.”
Most of the state has had slightly below average precipitation totals so far this year, but Tennessee isn’t suffering the extremely dry and hazardous fire conditions as in Alabama and Georgia.
The National Weather Service office in Atlanta has recorded 7.89 inches of precipitation so far this year, a big departure from a normal of 14.16 inches.
Meanwhile, Nashville has had 12.96 inches of precipitation since Jan. 1, compared to a normal total of 11.64 inches.
Most areas in Tennessee have received over 3 inches of precipitation so far in March and are within an inch of the normal total.
However, Chattanooga’s March total of 3.14 inches is 1.95 less than the average, according to the National Weather Service.
Rainfall is forecast to be close to normal through May.
The blaze on private land near Winchester is the largest in the state so far this season, and the majority of it has been contained, Bible said. Near U.S. Highway 70 in White County, 216 acres have burned, and firefighters dug in Thursday to protect four threatened homes, Cookeville district forester Jim Dale said.
None of the structures was damaged, and the fire was contained.
Authorities believed the fire was intentionally set near a cemetery, Dale said.
Firefighters on Thursday contained a 90-acre blaze near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park along the Foothills Parkway. Authorities believe it was caused by a person, but they haven’t determined if it was accidental or arson.
Last year, the park suppressed only two fires that totaled one acre.
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Tennessee Forestry Division: http://www.state.tn.us/agriculture/forestry/index.html