Officials with the Pine Barrens Commission warn the threat of brush fires in the protected forests of Suffolk County has increased with the lack of rain and unusually dry conditions.
The National Weather Service has stated that October is the driest month on record since the service began recording data in 1963. Hardly any rain has fallen across Long Island in months.
According to Judy Jakobsen, executive director of the Pine Barrens Commission, which oversees the protection of the region, potential brush fires in the Pine Barrens could prove hard to put out due to dehydration. The Pine Barrens spans over 900 square miles and is home to terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, farmland, residential communities and wildlife.
“With the soil being so dry, you can have ground fires,” Jakobsen said. “If you get a fire started, the fire will actually travel underground and into the roots with trees and other vegetation, which makes it very difficult to extinguish those fires.”
The lack of rain or humidity has raised the Fire Danger Rating in the Pine Barrens to a moderate and sometimes high level. The Fire Danger Rating is a system that helps fire managers determine the difficulty of putting out a fire in a certain area. It takes into consideration the humidity, temperature, and vegetation and soil conditions in the area.
Moderate and high levels mean fires start from many potential causes and are hard to extinguish unless attacked early.
Jakobsen said the region needs longer, continual periods of rainfall to reduce the chance of brush fires.
“It has to be … a certain level over a number of hours to soak into the soil and not run off,” Jakobsen said.
To further reduce the risk of accidentally starting a brush fire, she urged residents to sweep up dried leaves, water their gardens, put a screen over their fire pits to avoid embers catching fire and avoid parking their cars over dry grass.
“This is unusual to have in the fall and being with the extended dried conditions,” Jakobsen said. “What helps is that the days are higher in humidity. It helps to keep some of the risk down, but folks should take it seriously.”
