Md. Forest Service Official Warns of Wildfire Dangers

CUMBERLAND, Md. -- This could be an intense weekend for wildfires, according to Daniel Hedderick of the Maryland Forest Service.

"We've dodged bullets so far," Hedderick said Friday. "There have been major wildfires on the East Coast and elsewhere in the country."

Also on Friday, the Allegany County Department of Emergency Services joined the Forest Service in recommending that all open-air burning be postponed until after a significant rainfall of at least one inch takes place.

"When we get a heavier leaf cover in the forest canopy it will help," Hedderick said. "Any moisture that is on the forest floor will stay longer if it is shaded."

During the past month, there have been two small wildfires in Allegany County, according to Hedderick, one of .1 acre at Locust Grove and another of 1.1 acres at Thomas Road between Oldtown and Paw Paw, W.Va.

"It has been two years since we had a significant wildfire," Hedderick said.

There is no ban on outside burning, but the Forest Service is not issuing burning permits right now, Hedderick said. Debris fires that escape and those set by arsonists are the two most common woodland blazes in far Western Maryland, according to the forester.

"No significant precipitation is in the forecast for the next week," Hedderick said.

Online information from the West Virginia Division of Forestry shows there have been 340 wildfires statewide thus far in 2012.

Just 17 of those have been in the Eastern Panhandle and Potomac Highlands. Those 17 fires have burned 50 acres.

Debris burning and arson have accounted for 65 percent of the Mountain State's wildfires this year.

Copyright 2012 - Cumberland Times-News, Md.