Despite the severe autumn fire weather, Maryland forest fire damages less extensive in 2024 than in the previous year

Annapolis, Md. -The number of forest fires in Maryland in 2024 was much higher than the ten-year average, but according to the annual Wildland fire report of the Maryland Forest Service, the area brunkon was significantly lower. The report published this month covers data on forest fires to 3.2 million hectares of land, which was monitored by the Maryland Forest Service.

In Maryland, 165 fires burned 953.4 tomorrow in 2024, compared to 199 forest fires in 2023, which burned around 4,483 acres last year. Most of the fires are included in two morning or less.

The number of fires in October and November 2024 was more than twice as high as average and occurred during an extended dry period. However, comprehensive efforts by firefighters and partners of the forest service and a three -week internal ban in November were successful, despite the drought and weather conditions of the fire risk last autumn to keep fires relatively low last autumn.

“The nationwide burning ban in autumn 2024 was a critical instrument to minimize damage that is much worse,” said Chris Robertson, state fire department manager for Maryland Forest Service. “We are now moving in Maryland's Spring Waldfeuer season and see some increased forest fire activities that have so far been suppressed, but persistent risks are demanding increasing vigilance.”

The most common cause of forest fires in Maryland is the burning of rubble, but arson is the most harmful. The burning of rubble caused 49 forest fires, which led to almost 49 hectares, while arson caused 33 forest fires and 668 morning damage. Most of this damage occurred in February, as three swamp fires caused by arson, burned 571 morning in Dorchester County.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources reminds the residents that they can prevent forest fires from composting instead of burning leaves or other garden waste to ensure that warehouse or back yard fires are properly deleted and children inform about the dangers of lighters, games and forest fires.

Residents whose properties may be exposed to the risk of forest fires can use “Firewise” techniques to protect their houses and other buildings from forest fire. These techniques include removing flammable material of structures, if possible with fire-resistant building materials and when maintaining a 30-foot circuit buffer around your home.

The Maryland Forest Service also extends the use of prescribed burns to reduce the forest fire risk for fire attacks. In 2024, Maryland Forest Service and partner organizations carried out 87 required burns with around 8.201 Acres.

Prescribed burns, including controlled burns, have become an increasingly frequent strategy for land management and forest fire prevention. Large forest fires are not as problem in Maryland as in western states, but the prescribed burns carried out in Maryland help to reduce the dead wooden shells and the shrub layer that could serve as fuel for unintentional fires.

Larger trees, which are fiery with thicker bark and reservation ability, such as oaks, are at the floor level. The mineral floor left behind by prescribed burns can stimulate a successful regeneration of the sperm bank. The burns can also help create a subsequent habitat of grasses, bushes and other deep vegetation that offer a new habitat for wild animals such as pollinators and birds of land, including quail and feldspars.

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