Fire danger advisory issued by the Alabama Forestry Commission

MARION COUNTY — As drought conditions worsen, due to the recent lack of precipitation and high temperatures, the Alabama Forestry Commission is issuing a Statewide Fire Danger Advisory. Until the state receives sufficient rainfall to alleviate the severe dry situation, especially in central Alabama, this elevated fire danger will persist for the foreseeable future.
Mitigation measures should be considered to protect lives and property from wildfire damage. If possible, refrain from burning until fire danger has diminished. Always obtain a permit for prescribed burns, and ensure adequate equipment and personnel are present.
Never leave a fire until it is safely extinguished. Conduct post-burn patrols for several days to ensure that reignition has not occurred and firebreaks have not been compromised.
In residential areas, be sure to have a water hose prepared and adjacent to the burning area. After burning debris piles, it is necessary to thoroughly soak the area until cold.
As this advisory continues and potentially escalates, it is essential to maintain situational awareness.
Burning debris piles can continue to smolder for multiple days, eventually spreading out of a previously contained area. Under these critically dry conditions, chances of embers igniting outside of the main burn area are increased.
Fires in areas with deep duff (layers of decaying vegetable matter covering the ground under trees) can also continue to burn for extended periods of time, potentially causing tree mortality.
Driving vehicles into tall grasses, as well as equipment use such as bush-hogging, hay baling or mulching, can spark ignition.
The Alabama Forestry Commission will continue to monitor the strengthening drought and wildfire statistics across the state. The agency will evaluate if further restrictions are needed in the coming weeks.
The Alabama Forestry Commission is the state agency responsible for protecting and sustaining Alabama’s forest resources for present and future generations.
 
Marion County
AFC remarks
The Journal-Record asked AFC Forestry Specialist Supervisor Joel Bartlett to provide more information on the situation from a local perspective, as well as share a few tips on preventing the spread of fires.
“Although the rains we received during the last week of September (Sept. 24-25) were a relief, we are still creeping back up in that critical level here due to the dry spell before the rain,” Bartlett said.
“Over the next five to ten days we’re going to have lower humidities in the 30s and the drying out will continue until we get another significant amount of rain.
“So, it’s going to creep the fire danger up more each day we go like this. We had a little rain, but it wasn’t a significant amount.”
Regarding how Marion County compares to the rest of the state, Bartlett said the rain totals have been all across the board.
“Yes, we had rain, but maybe not as much as somebody down south a couple more hours away,” he said. “I’m not sure what all the rain totals were for the state. But our problem is, before we had that small amount of rain, we were inching up to numbers we saw last year at this time when we were going into the drought.
“I’d say we were a week away from having some serious implications as far as fires. We saw an uptick in fires before that last rain, but our numbers were rising up day by day before we had that little rain. It helped, but by no means was it a drought-breaker or enough to calm the fires down.”
Bartlett said the AFC is trending right now at similar numbers from fall of 2024 when there were a very high number of fires, as well as in February and March of this year.
“Now, we’re back into that dry and low humidity weather, and we’ll start seeing a little bit more wind,” he said. “October is generally the driest month of the year for Alabama.
“We’ll see a more northerly shift between October and November, so that brings in cooler air and lower humidity, and we start seeing fires tick back up and our numbers start going up. We’re heading toward a dangerous line.”
Regarding fire prevention, Bartlett noted, “If you have to do any outside burning, if you just have to--and I understand people want to rake leaves this time of year and clean up their garden spots--be prepared.
“Have a water hose or if you have the availability of a tank of water or something like that, have it on standby. Make a dirt line around the pile where you’re going to burn to try to control it.
“Rake away the fuel you don’t want burned and make something like a fire lane. When we’re fighting fire, we dig down to the mineral dirt, so the fire won’t cross the dirt.”
Bartlett said depending on what you’re burning, you could make a fire lane from a couple of feet wide to even wider.
“If you can have a burn area, such as rocks built up like a fire pit, burn in your fire pit where its controlled,” he said. “Don’t burn in your yard where grass is. You have to be safe about it.  
“Don’t burn on windy days. We can’t control a gust of wind every now and then, but when you have sustained winds of 5-10 m.p.h. with trees moving and leaves blowing on the ground, it’s not a good day to burn.”
Bartlett cautioned to NEVER leave a fire unattended.
“If you’re raking your yard and burning a pile of leaves, it’s great to have water right there, but you can’t leave your fire,” he said. “Never leave your fire, even if you have a raked line around it down to the mineral soil to the dirt.
“Never leave it even if you have water out there, with a hose or a tank. Never leave it. Let it burn out and then douse it with water. Turn it. Stir it up and wet it again.
“If at all possible, don’t do any outside burning right now. That’s the best way to prevent a fire now. We need a couple of weeks of rain in a row to bring us back into line of where we need to be, fire safety-wise.”