05/04/08 — Much-needed rains have returned to the area for the start of May, leaving behind a warm, dry April that marked the worst month for brush fires throughout Crawford County in recent years.
With a total of 95 brush fires reported last month, the county had almost 15 times the number of such fires in April compared to the same time in 2007, according to Crawford County Office of Emergency Services officials, who said the numbers set a record for the last three years.
A majority of the fires, officials have said, resulted from a mixture of dry, warm conditions and wind. Putting those ingredients together with the apparent eagerness of some to burn off dead grass or garbage, it’s easy to see how flames can spread out of control quickly.
“People need to wait until (the ground and plants) green up a little more,” Chief Don Grinnell of Vernon Central Volunteer Fire Department said recently. “People just need to wait another month to burn off debris when it’s not so dry and it won’t spread as easily.”
And April was dry in northwestern Pennsylvania. The 2.27 inches of rainfall recorded in the region were over an inch below the normal amount of precipitation for the month, according to the National Weather Service at Cleveland.
The month’s warm weather and relative low humidity didn’t help matters either, according to NWS officials. At an average temperature of 51.2 degrees Fahrenheit, April was the seventh warmest on record, officials said. With data dating all the way back to 1874, NWS said the warmest-on-record April in the region was in 1921, when the average area temperature was 53.7 degrees.
When conditions are as such, according to Grinnell and other local fire officials, common sense is the best defense against fires. During periods when brush and grass fires are a substantial risk, the county OES supplies a burning index for area dispatch centers.
Officials advise that area residents pay close attention to those indexes, and firefighters offer a number of tips to avoid starting a grass or brush fire:
–– Don’t burn on a windy day.
–– Wait for an opportune time to burn — after a rain.
–– Wet the area around the fire so it won’t spread.
–– Keep any fire under close supervision; don’t set it and walk away.
Ryan Smith can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at rsmith@meadvilletribune.com. Previously-published material from Tribune reporter Keith Gushard was included in this article.
Did you know?
Last month marked the seventh warmest April on record in northwestern Pennsylvania with an average temperature of 51.2 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Weather Service at Cleveland. A new one-day record for the month was set on April 19, when the temperature rose to 84 degrees.
The warmest April on record in the region was in 1921, when the average temperature was 53.7 degrees. The old one-day record high was 83 degrees, set in 1941.
–– For more weather statistics, forecasts, storm warnings and more, visit NWS at www.erh.noaa.gov/cleveland on the Web.
Local News
Related Photos
Discussion
Lack of rain ignites record-setting brush fires
- Local News
-
-
Conneaut Lake Park roars into 120th season
Conneaut Lake Park’s 120th season is officially under way with its in-keeping-with-tradition, four-day Memorial Day weekend opening, and the “crowds are coming in,” Jack Moyers said Saturday.
-
Area communities ready to celebrate Memorial Day
Editor’s note: The following Memorial Day events have been reported for publication in The Tribune. All events are Monday, except those in Edinboro and Shermansville, which are planned for Sunday. -
Remembering Civil War Bucktails
A glimpse into daily life of the Civil War era is easy to see in Crawford County.
-
Area Memorial Day events
The following Memorial Day events have been reported for publication in The Tribune. All events are on Monday, except the one at Edinboro that is planned for Sunday.
-
Civil War soldiers highlight Meadville Memorial Day events
A courageous Meadville man — wounded three times but remaining on a Civil War battlefield until he was too weak to continue — is being remembered this Memorial Day as the Meadville Area Memorial Day Committee continues its mission of observing the 150th anniversary of the War Between the States.
-
Police: Locals admit to killing Ohio woman
Two Cochranton women were arrested and jailed on homicide charges early Thursday after allegedly admitting they killed an Ohio woman and buried her body in a shallow grave near their residence recently.
-
Reader 'Faces' are coming in
Mom's car dash, Meadville, PA
Lucy Kedzierski, 12, looks at the face every morning waiting for school bus!
She took this with a cell phone. -
North Street Project sure to be 'very disruptive'
With the preliminary traffic control plan for Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s North Street Project complete, Meadville City Manager Joe Chriest summed up the anticipated impact of the project, which is expected to span the entire 2013 construction season. “This is going to be very, very disruptive,” he said Wednesday.
-
Boat business booming in warm weather
It’s been a booming business in boats this spring, according to some area boat dealers.
-
City leaders not concerned after financial downgrade
During the past five years, Moody’s Investors Service has assigned three different ratings — all within the range of “upper medium grade” to the City of Meadville’s bonds. In 2007, the city was given a rating of A3, the lowest of the trio. In 2010, the city’s bond rating was raised to A1, the highest ranking in the “upper medium” category. Monday, Moody’s gave the city’s $10,000,000 General Obligation Bonds, Series of 2012, which went on the market Monday, the middle rating of A2.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
