bferry@timesobserver.com
The fire danger sign at the Allegheny National Forest headquarters indicates a âlowâ level of danger on Monday. There have already been several confirmed vegetation fires in the county this month.
Times Observer photo by Brian Ferry
There is still snow on the ground in some places, but wildfire season is under way.
County departments were called out to respond to three different confirmed vegetation fires in the span of one-and-a-half hours Sunday.
“The spring season – March through May – is when Pennsylvania faces its greatest danger of wildfires,” Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Bureau of Forestry Cornplanter District Forester Cecile Stelter said. “As we move from winter into spring, the sun climbs higher in the sky and our days become longer and warmer. The deciduous or hardwood trees haven’t produced their leaves, yet – so the sunlight can more easily reach the forest floor and warm the ground and