This time of the year is good at fooling people. Because we associate the fall with cooler, wetter weather, it’s easy to think that when the temperature breaks, as it has over the past few days, the fall moisture is there, too.
But of course it’s not. In fact, even if you do need a jacket in the mornings, conditions are tinder dry and a spark or blown ember can lead to a fiery mess, especially when there’s a breeze. That is why Jefferson County and others are under a burn ban. There are signs posted around the county now, and the burn ban itself has been publicized.
Unfortunately, there are those — there are always a few — who aren’t aware of the ban or, more unfortunately, think the ban is for others but surely not them.
That’s what happened two years ago. There was a burn ban, and two different people were out burning trash on a windy day. In no time, the contained fires were not so contained.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Steven Tidwell, assistant chief with the Watson Chapel Volunteer Fire Department, said at the time that both fires quickly got out of control.
“Those fires got into the woods and they were gone,” Tidwell said. “This is the worst that I’ve seen it in 25 years of working at fire departments. Everything is so dry. This is a big fire. Just by the grace of God have we not had any structures lost.”
No, no structures were lost, but there was a value of the timber that was destroyed, and there was a toll on the people that had to risk life and limb to fight the fires, not to mention the financial toll on the entities that answered the calls for help.
Both fires were in south Jefferson County, with one of the fires in the vicinity of Highways 63 and 54, covering more than 500 acres, and the other in the Watson Chapel area. A story in The Commercial about the fires said that a TV station posted a photo of the fire’s smoke that was picked up by its weather radar.
Flames leapt up 40 to 50 feet as the Forestry Commission, assisted by numerous area fire departments, worked to contain the fire.
It’s one thing to have a wildfire that was started by natural causes, such as lightning, but Tidwell was quite irritated, as he had every right to be, with how that 2022 fire started.
“There was a burn ban and we’ve had the ban for over a month now,” he said. “It’s been all over the news and very well publicized.”
So just a reminder to avoid the urge to go out on one of these nice autumn days and start to work on that trash or brush pile. The fall rains will come, eventually, and catch up with the low temperatures, and the burn ban will be a distant memory. Until then, think of non-flamey things to do around the house.