COLUMBIA — Against the backdrop of an exceptionally dry fall so far, with the months of October and November surpassing both their five- and 10-year averages for wildfires, the South Carolina Forestry Commission is encouraging citizens and landowners to exercise extreme caution when burning yard debris and/or conducting prescribed burns.
“Even though we’re not experiencing extremely low relative humidities or high winds, the higher-than-usual temperatures and long-term drying we’ve experienced in the last few weeks do spark concern about the potential for increased wildfire ignitions,” said Darryl Jones, SCFC Fire Chief. “And with this coming weekend forecasted to be atypically warm with highs in the 70s, many people will be doing things outside like cleaning up their yards and burning debris. The potential for some of those fires to escape is higher than usual at this time.”
Officials from the only agency responsible for wildfire suppression in all unincorporated areas of the state are reminding the public that most wildfires are largely preventable when the proper precautions are taken. In addition to notifying the Forestry Commission before conducting any outdoor burning, those precautions include creating an adequate firebreak around the area to be burned and having enough personnel, water and equipment on hand to keep the fire under control at all times.
“Just because this weekend is unseasonably warm – even spring-like in terms of temperature – there’s no reason for people to be any less cautious with fire,” said Jones. “As always, we want people who plan to burn to be prepared, respect the weather and never leave a fire unattended for any reason or for any amount of time.”
State law requires that citizens outside of unincorporated areas notify the Forestry Commission before burning outdoors. The notification is a quick, easy, automated process, and the toll-free numbers for each county are provided at the link below:
scfc.gov/protection/fire-burning/how-to-notify
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