Fire Weather

Details: Created on Thursday, 09 May 2013 16:26; Written by Catherine Vitale

NORTHEAST KINGDOM - Recent weather conditions have been warmer and dryer than average.

Those dry conditions have resulted in a busy month for local firefighters.

Jason Shafer, an Associate Professor of Meteorology at Lyndon State College explained that this long of a period under these conditions isn't normal for the area.

  "We're in a pretty dry stretch right now, this current stretch we're on, two to three weeks, we don't get a stretch of this type of dry weather until once every 5 to 10 years," Shafer explained. Shafer also said that the average stretch of time that we experience conditions like these is about 1 or 2 weeks.

These dry conditions have aided fires in popping up all around the Northeast Kingdom. A fire on Jewell Hill Rd. in Lyndonville on April 24, another fire on Speedwell Dr. in Lyndonville on May 1st, and a brush fire on Caledonia Street in St. Johnsbury are just a few examples of the constant stream of fires that are keeping firefighters busy. Despite the growing number of fires, St. Johnsbury's fire department has been able to keep their firehouse staffed.

"There's a greater chance of being at another one instant, and having another one somewhere else," Montminy said, "but being full time, we're able to staff the firehouse 24 hours a day."

Due to current conditions, there is a burn ban in St. Johnsbury. This burn ban will help firefighters keep the number of possible out of control fires down.
"We're not allowing any burning right now, until we get some rain. With low humidity, the wind, the dry weather, it's really easy to have a fire get out of control, so we don't want that to happen," Montminy said.

For those who are still worried about their home, Montminy has a few words of advice. Keep combustibles at least 10 feet away from your home. That will reduce the chance of them catching your house on fire. According to Shafer, there could be some good news on the way.

"Looks like we're going to have a break in the pattern by the end of this week Thursday or Friday," Shafer explained, "then getting into early next week a little bit of a cold wave coming in, so I think there's a decent chance for soaking rainfall either Thursday, Friday, or Saturday."

Despite the weather conditions, firefighters across the Northeast Kingdom continue to battle blazes as best they can.