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Forest officials highlight the importance of fire safety during summer

pixabay.com

Summer is in full swing and officials with the Daniel Boone National Forest said it’s now more important than ever to be aware of fire safety within the forest.

Mary O’Malley, Public Affairs Specialist with the Daniel Boone National Forest, said one easy way to prevent a forest fire is to ensure any campfire made is done safely and put out correctly. She said campfires should only be started in the designated areas, and forest visitors should be sure to use a campfire ring to help limit the chances of rogue fires. Then when leaving, visitors should use the drown, stir, and feel method.

“The drown, stir, feel method is when you douse your campfire with water, you take a stick or a shovel and you stir it around so you are kind of making like mud, and then, with the back of your hand a couple of inches away, test to see if you can still feel any heat. If it still feels warm to the back of your hand, you just want to repeat that process,” said O’Malley.

O’Malley said if a fire is not completely out, it can be accidentally re-ignited. Wind can blow embers out of the ring and into surrounding brushes, or leaves can be blown into the fire circle. She added that nationally, nine out of ten wildfires are caused by humans, including half of all wildfires on national forests. She said that although nearby forests look green and fresh right now, this can quickly become an issue.

“In the forest right now in a lot of eastern Kentucky, it’s still looking pretty lush. We’ve had a wet and stormy spring, which has brought in a lot of new growth, and also storm debris, that now is going to dry out over this dry kind of summer heat. So that’s loading up a lot of potential fuel for a wildfire here in the eastern part of the state,” said O’Malley.

She said the easiest way to report a fire, even in the national forest, is to call 911. Dispatchers will be able to quickly gather necessary resources to put the fire out as quickly as possible.

O’Malley also mentioned that although there are currently no burn bans in place in the national forest, public and private lands which border the forest may have some in place, and it’s important to check before burning.