Reflections on upcoming spring wildfire season in NJ

As we may be near the end of the spring prescribed burning season here in New Jersey and with the spring wildfire season soon upon us, my thoughts turn to paying even closer attention to current and forecasted weather than I do at other times of year. This week, the first full week in April may be a damp week in New Jersey and environs. If that weather forecast holds, then it may mean reduced risk of wildfires. I say maybe because after following and continue to learn about wildfires, I know that even when wildfire risk is minimal that there is still a chance, however minimal, that wildfires may still burn. 

We have been in an abnormally dry period in central and northern New Jersey for the last couple of weeks, with southern New Jersey in moderate drought conditions (see my March 28th post) According to the last update from the US Drought Monitor  (updates available each Thursday reflecting conditions two days before, archived data also available). We had some rain the middle of last week and this weekend but I am not sure if this was enough to to alleviate the dry and drought conditions in New Jersey. So even with forecast rain, I remain concerned about continuing dry conditions in New Jersey and the prospects for a worse spring wildfire season. Of course my concerns are just that concerns, as I am not a Meteorologist nor am I a wildland firefighter.

Obtained on April 5, 2022 from https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

My concerns about the severity of the spring wildfire may or may not materialize. Even so, there are things that I can do, such as monitoring weather forecasts from the NWS Weather Service as well as monitoring current fire danger. In New Jersey I can monitor current fire danger through the NJ Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) webpage where the NJFFS has an information page on conditions and restrictions. For those of you who live outside of New Jersey, you may want to monitor wildfire conditions through your states forest fire service or the equivalent. There are two NWS Weather Forecast Offices (NWS WFO) in New Jersey covering different parts of the state. The NWS WFO in Upton New York covers the five northeastern counties, The NWS WFO in Mt Holly NJ covers the rest of New Jersey.

There are some tips from the NJ Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP.). The NJ Forest Fire Service is one of the divisions of the NJDEP.

Some of these tips are easy for me to follow as I have no children, I do not smoke, and I have not used my indoor fire place in a few years. I used to camp when I was younger and was taught by my Dad how to be sure that our campfire was fully doused when we left the campsite and an adult was always around when the campfire was lit. After having a lantern catch fire when I was a kid that scared the you know what out of us, we always brought a fire extinguisher along on our family camping trips. I try to be sure that my driveway is accessible if for no other reason than I need to be sure that the fuel delivery trucks can access the driveway. 

As for defensible space, I keep leaves out of my gutters because if I do not the gutters get clogged.  I admit the while most of the gardens adjoining my house are covered with stone, there is some leaf detritus around and I need to be better at keeping the leaves and the like away from my house.  Yes, I have various perennials and shrubs planted. If I were in an area with higher overall widfire danger, I would have to carefully consider what I plant. 

The closest I came to a small brush fire was when a utility transformer on a pole across the street caught fire. That was scary but my local Volunteer Fire Company was on the ball putting the fire out once the power county cut power to the utility transformer in question. This just goes to show that fires of any kind can crop up and it does pay to be fire aware.