Pee Dee primed for big fire season

FLORENCE – As the Pee Dee approaches spring it also approaches the peak of the wildfire season—a season predicted to be as busy if not busier than last year’s.

With low humidity, dry conditions coupled with the area’s moderate drought status, the environment is one that can esasily allow a brushfire to become a wildfire. That’s something that Scott Hawkins with the South Carolina Forestry Commission is on an awareness mission to prevent.

“Be cognizant of the ongoing drought in South Carolina, which has specifically impacted the Pee Dee,” Hawkins said. “Weather drives fire.”

WBTW Meteorologist Frank Johnson said the drought condition has been persistent. “Rainfall in the Carolinas is tied closely to the El Nino/La Nina phase in the tropical Pacific,” said Johnson. “We have been in a La Nina since late 2010, and the dry weather we experienced in 2011 is continuing. The forecast is for the La Nina to continue into the spring.”

Howe Spring Fire Department Chief Shannon Smith said that forecast reinforces his estimate of a busier season ahead.

“I think it’s gonna be a little busier because of the dryness we’ve been having,” Smith said. “Even with the rain the wind still is a factor, (the fires) burn across the top of the grass pretty quick.”

In January, Florence had 1.30 inches of rain, 1.93 below the average for the month, but better than the 0.84 inches in January 2011.

Human error contributes, too, which is why Hawkins has been educating communities with the help of area fire departments and forestry offices on the proper way to burn natural vegetation and yard debris — the only items residents are legally allowed to burn openly.

The peak fire time is Saturday afternoon, around 2 p.m.

“We know open burns are part of the Southern culture,” Hawkins said. “But 46 percent of the wildfires the agency respond to are outdoor burns that have escaped.”

Negligence, a large debris pile, failure to properly establish a fire break, and poor planning are just some of the culprits behind that number and behind the 74 fires in Florence County the SCFC responded to in 2009-2010, according to the commissions’ most recent annual report. However, not every brush fire that occurs is counted in the SCFC stats.

Fire departments such as Windy Hill and Howe Springs see a brunt of these escaped debris fires on a daily basis and have been a great asset to the local forestry commission, Florence County fire technician supervisor Anthony Eaddy said.

“Our resources get stretched thin and we’re down a good many of our employees that were firefighters that couldn’t be replaced,” Eaddy said. “Resources have dwindled down due to the budget and it makes it harder for to fight fires due to the lack of personnel.” Local fire departments contact the forestry commission when they need additional fire support.

But fires don’t care about budgets or personnel. They just want to know how much dry vegetation there is to consume. In Florence County there’s plenty. The county contains 511,494 acres and 73 percent is forestland.

The SCFC provides a handy “Think Before You Burn” guide that the commission recommends citizens read before conducting a burn.

The guide gives a checklist to run through before conducting a burn, county forestry commission numbers that people need to call to alert the commission to a burn in their county and general information about fire safety.

Hawkins said the commission’s law enforcement personnel are aggressively writing tickets for illegal burns. Fines start at $262.50 per count.