The Effects of Drought on Forest Fire Conditions in Connecticut The State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Forestry has just ended its spring fire season (i.e. March 15th through the end of May). Despite entering this season with a prolonged drought no special preparations were anticipated due primarily to a favorable long-term outlook. The National Weather Service has predicted that the northeastern Unites States will receive near normal precipitation during the spring. While this will do little ot mitigate the on-going drought, it should minimize fire activity. However any fire starts will have the potential to burn down into the ground much like a summer or fall fire since the upper soil profile will be drier than normal. This translates into more time consuming work for the local volunteer and DEP fire fighters. Ground fires are a cause for concern as they can be quite damaging to
plant roots, microbes and soil structure. Ground fires are also very difficult
to extinguish since they can linger for days or sometimes weeks and go
undetected until conditions become favorable allowing the fire to once
again reach the surface and transition back to a surface fire. |