Forest Fire Season Now Officially Underway

By: Phil Pendleton Email

Updated: Mon 7:33 PM, Oct 01, 2007

The threat of a fire to wooded areas is moderate or high and that's because there's been a drought and low humidity. For those who fight fires, they're expecting to work long days and probably weekends, too. And they're likely to be working in extremely dangerous situations.

“Probably until the snow flies we'll be working 16 hour days and probably most weekends,” says Brian Yager with the Ky. Division of Forestry.

Forest Fire season runs from October 1 to December 15. But this year, the elements are there for much more damage, destruction, and loss of scenic land.

“A wild fire costs us all. If we were to burn all of this this year, you could come back 50 to 100 years and find evidence of a small fire,” says Yager.

Months of little rainfall added to low humidity typical of Kentucky autumn means this could be one of the worst years since the late 1990s. And firefighters are preparing for a stressful time.

“It's a strain on your personal life; it's a strain on the state itself, on the equipments, the budget.”

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