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Wednesday, March 29, 2006
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Snow departs, wildfires arrive
Staff Writer The wildfire season has started in the Brainerd area.
On Tuesday, firefighters from the Brainerd Fire Department and the DNR responded to a grass fire along Church Road in Long Lake Township, south of Brainerd.
The fire, reported at 2:07 p.m., was believed to have been started by wind carrying embers from a controlled burn Monday, said Brainerd Fire Chief Fred Underhill. About 15 to 20 acres of field and swamp burned Tuesday, he said, but no structures were threatened. Firefighters had the fire out in about an hour.
"It's getting here with the snow starting to go," Underhill said of the wildfire season. "You can't be too careful at this time of day when the winds are up."
The fire danger in the Brainerd area remains low and burning restrictions probably won't go into effect until mid-April because many places still have snow on the ground, said Mark Mortensen, DNR fire program forester.
However, area residents should still use caution when burning, Mortensen said, because higher temperatures and stronger winds have left a few areas without snow.
Mortensen advises people to burn only if they have a permit and under safe conditions. Most important, he said, is for people to make sure a fire is out before leaving it.
"A large number of the fires we have result from people assuming what they were burning was out," he said.
Historically, 80 percent of all wildfires in Minnesota occur during April and May but since the inception of annual permit restrictions numbers of spring wildfires have been reduced, the DNR reported.
Spring burning restrictions go into effect at 8 a.m. April 7 in area counties, including Morrison and Todd counties. More counties will be included in the restrictions as snow cover disappears.
Burning restrictions are put in place to reduce property damage from wildfires caused by the burning of debris. As temperatures rise and vegetation dries, fire agencies are expecting an increase in fires.
The forecast of rain this week is both a positive and a negative, Mortensen said, because while rain provides moisture to dry areas it also melts snow cover in other areas faster than normal.
The National Weather Service in Duluth is forecasting a 40 percent chance of rain Wednesday night, a 40 percent chance of rain showers and thunderstorms Thursday and a 60 percent chance of rain and possibly snow Friday. High temperatures are expected to be between 40-50 degrees through Sunday, the National Weather Service reported.
MATT ERICKSON can be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5857.
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