Alabama Wildfires

[NJFFSA16]

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) - A wind-blown blaze scorched about 100 acres
of woodlands in north Mobile County on Thursday, threatening
several structures, but causing no injuries.
Several volunteer fire departments fought the fire near Celeste
and Salco Roads in the Turnerville community. Some families were
temporarily relocated as a precaution.
Brisk winds associated with a cold front fanned and strengthened
the fire.
Meanwhile, the National Weather Service issued a fire weather
watch for parts of north and central Alabama Thursday. The watch
means conditions are favorable for the threat of fires.



(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[NJFFSA16]

Firefighters fight wildfires in 27 Alabama counties
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - State forestry officials said Tuesday
that strong winds were partly responsible as wildfires burned
almost 1,000 acres in 27 Alabama counties, threatening several
homes, a church and other property.
Alabama Forestry Commission officials said 70 fires burned the
acreage Monday, with Cleburne and Mobile County hit the worst.
Cleburne County manager Paul Williams said the problem began
Friday with four arson fires burning 86 acres. One arson fire
threatened a home Saturday and 10 fires burned 423 acres Sunday.
Two fires burned 95 acres Monday, as several homes and a church
were threatened.
Eleven fires burned in Mobile County Monday, damaging 173 acres
of land in the Bayou La Batre and Irvington communities. County
manager Steve Lyda said six homes and several outbuildings were
threatened.


(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[EFD840]

Speaking to you from central Alabama...

Everything's still a nice, combustible winter brown. Combine that with 25+ MPH winds like we had Monday and you've got trouble.

We've had plenty rainfall, to the point that some pastures are so soft you risk getting the brush truck stuck but the vegatation blazes along quite nicely.

Things are starting to green up, so hopefully it will not last much longer. We've actually slowed down over the last week. A couple of weeks ago we were seeing lots of fires but it has slowed down recently. I guess it all moved south.

[NJFFSA16]

Fifty-five counties placed under fire alert

(Montgomery-AP) -- State Forester Timothy Boyce placed 55
Alabama counties under a Fire Alert because of recent wildfires
that have burned across the state.
A total of 197 fires burned 3-thousand-539 acres over the
weekend.
Officials say arson and debris burning have been the two leading
causes of the fires, which have destroyed five homes and 48 cars
this month.
Alabama Forestry Commission officials placed 50 counties in the
southern and northeastern parts of the state on alert yesterday and
added five more counties to the list today.
Officials put the counties on alert because of dry weather and
predicted high winds over the next few days.
Portions of the Tennessee Valley had light rain over the
weekend, but most of Alabama missed out.
Forecasters predicted no rain until the end of the week.
The A-F-C can restrict outdoor burn permits under a Fire Alert
and evaluates every permit request before issuing one.

(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[NJFFSA16]

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Nearly 200 fires have destroyed more
than 3,300 acres of forest statewide since Sunday's fire alert for
55 counties, the Alabama Forestry Commission said Wednesday.
Though fires have been spotted all over Alabama, the most
extreme blazes have affected the southwestern and northeastern
corners of the state, said commission spokeswoman Coleen VanSant,
who has tracked Alabama fires for 18 years.
"None of us can remember it being this bad, this long during
the spring," she said. "It's the first time we can remember going
under a fire alert in the spring."
This month has been unusually dry. Fire experts typically
welcome March as a time when rain and lush foliage taper out the
seasonal fires from the winter months.
But the agency reports that 1,164 fires have burned 17,609 acres
statewide this month. That's more than what has burned in the
previous five months combined. From October through February, 1,381
fires burned 10,227 acres.
More than 300 acres of forest burned from Jacksonville to
Anniston this week and were under control by Tuesday afternoon,
said Steve Bowden, a fire specialist with the commission's
northeast region.
A fire near Camp Cottaquilla had burned about 250 acres by
Tuesday morning while the Anniston fire burned about 42 acres, he
said.
In Mobile, county officials estimated their woodlands have
burned at the rate of 80 acres an hour since early March.
On Sunday and Monday, the Alabama Forestry Commission placed 55
of Alabama's 67 counties under a fire alert, which restricts
outdoor burning.
The two leading causes of the fires in Alabama are arson and
debris burning, VanSant said. The lack of rain combined with high
winds and low humidity has increased the risk of spreading fires.
"It's like two weeks ago spring just stopped," VanSant said.
"We haven't had the usual spring showers, and until we get rain
we're going to be in the same situation."
Several counties are 2 to 3 inches below normal precipitation
for the month of March, while others, including Mobile, are 5
inches below normal.
"It just hasn't rained," said Jim Westland, a National Weather
Service meteorologist, who predicted little to no rain until the
end of the month. "March is typically our rainiest month."
Westland said rain, though scarce, has fallen on the
northwestern part of the state, but seemingly skipped the southern
and northeastern areas.
The forestry commission says it will not issue any burn permits
to residents or allow any private burning.

(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[Ranburne]

Today looks like another bad day for northern Cleburne County.
At noon today 4 fire departments and 6 tractors were out on fires north of highway 78.

[EFD840]

This is a first, a capture made by an aircraft:
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Grand Bay man charged in wildfires


MOBILE -- A Grand Bay man faces arson charges related to wildfires set last month near Bayou La Batre. Douglas Adrian Goodrum, 58, was arrested Friday after an investigation by the Alabama Forestry Commission and the Mobile County Sheriff's Department.
Goodrum was charged after a fire detection pilot saw a suspicious vehicle near the fires and followed the truck until law enforcement officers could intercept the driver.

If convicted, Goodrum faces up to 10 years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
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