Department offers advice for reducing danger of wildfires to homes, businesses

Agency officials urge action now, because Missouri’s fire season is at hand.

JEFFERSON CITY—Winter is fire season in Missouri, and foresters are warning of increased risk to rural homes and businesses. They say property owners can reduce fire risk created by last year’s ice storms.

Missouri suffered two catastrophic ice storms in 2007. A January storm primarily affected the southern half of the state, especially the corridor roughly following I-44 from Joplin to St. Louis. A second storm in December affected nearly every county in the state.

Besides bringing down power lines and plunging hundreds of thousands of Missourians into darkness, the heavy coating of ice tore limbs from countless trees, leaving many utterly ruined.

“All that wood lying on the ground is going to haunt us for several years,” said Forestry Regional Supervisor Tim Stanton. “Before these storms, you typically could find about three tons of woody debris per acre of Missouri woodland. After the storm, we are finding as much as 34 tons per acre.”

Stanton said the added fuel load will increase the intensity of future forest fires and the likelihood of wildfires spreading. This danger will increase as green wood dries out and becomes more flammable.

Limbs brought down by last January’s ice storm have had a year to dry out and will pose more of a hazard than material that fell during the December storm. An immediate threat statewide is the obstacle that ice-storm debris creates for suppression crews trying to reach wildfires. This will slow firefighters’ response and tie up bulldozers and other heavy equipment, forcing firefighters to build fire lines by hand. This is slower and more dangerous.

“Between February and May last year we lost some homes, outbuildings and a factory in Lebanon as a direct result of burning ice debris,” Stanton said, “and that was a mild fire season. Any prolonged dry spell of seven days or more is going to affect a lot of people. A major indirect affect to a populated area is smoke exposure.”

Stanton said property owners can do several things to reduce the amount of woody debris on their land and decrease their fire risk. One is to use tree parts for firewood. Another is to collect fallen limbs into brush piles. This isolates fuel in small islands, making it harder for wildfires to move through a forest. Quail, rabbits, birds and other wildlife benefit from the cover that brush piles create.

Another use for woody debris is garden mulch. A rented wood chipper turns broken tree tops from a hazard into a useful commodity. Excess wood chips can go to landfills or other designated disposal sites. Chipping is a good way to remove fuel around homes and businesses, creating a safe buffer around structures.

Stanton suggested pooling resources with neighbors to rent chippers and bring together the equipment and labor needed to get the work done.

Burning is another way to get rid of downed tree limbs, but this calls for extreme caution. Stanton said escaped debris fires blacken tens of thousands of acres in Missouri each year. To be sure you don’t put property at risk when burning debris, follow these tips.

--Contact local fire officials before burning to advise them of your plans and learn if any restrictions are in place.

--Create positive firebreaks around the area to be burned, clearing a 5-foot lane down to bare soil.

--Ensure you have enough people and equipment to effectively manage a burn. Check with the nearest Conservation Department office for advice about what is needed.

--Check the weather forecast and do not burn when winds more than 15 mph are predicted.

--Burn before 10 a.m. or after 4 p.m. when higher humidity minimizes the risk of a fire escaping.

--Do not burn dead leaves or dormant grasses when the humidity is below 30 percent.

--When burning piles of debris, keep them small and add material gradually.

--Burn piles of debris only where you can isolate them from surrounding forest with green grass or snow.

--Cover burn piles with tarps or plastic sheets to keep them dry. Burn them immediately after a rain, when surrounding vegetation is wet.

--Do not build burn under trees or power lines or near homes or other structures.

--Remember that fire moves faster as it goes uphill. Establishing a firebreak on the uphill side of a burn area and lighting the fire there forces it to burn downhill, making it easier to control.

--Burn fields after grass has greened up.

--Have a water source and shovel on hand when burning.

--Stay with burns until they are extinguished completely.

The publication “Living with Wildfire” explains how to create defensible space around buildings and help homes and businesses survive wildfires. For a free copy, write to MDC, Living with Wildfire, P.O. Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0180 or e-mail pubstaff@mdc.mo.gov. For more information, visit mdc.mo.gov/wildfire, or call the nearest Conservation Department office.

If you want to take preventive measures but don’t have the necessary equipment or labor, consider hiring a wildlife contractor. To find one near you, visit mdc.mo.gov/cgi-bin/mdcdevpub/apps/contactsnonmdc/main.cgi.

-Jim Low-