The Albemarle County Fire Marshal’s Office issued a burn ban on November 17, following a wave of wildfires across Virginia. Though the Afton Mountain and Quaker Run fires are now contained, the Charlottesville area is not yet out of the woods this fire season.
No big fires have broken out in Albemarle County, but Albemarle County Fire Rescue has been busy helping neighboring communities and fighting drought conditions. “In the fall, there’s always the increased fuel load from debris that’s falling, leaves and other dead vegetation that’s died off, so that creates ground fuel,” says ACFR Deputy Chief Emily Pelliccia. “[Albemarle’s] been in better shape than … some of the other areas in terms of that ground moisture.”
Containing fires in remote areas or on difficult terrain, like Afton Mountain, can be challenging for firefighters, says Pelliccia. Between difficulty accessing the location of the flames and restrictions on heavy equipment, containing fires on mountaintops is literally an uphill battle.
“We were really fortunate with the Afton fire that the Madison [Quaker Run] fire was at a point where there were a lot of state and federal resources that had been kind of demobilized or were in a holding pattern,” says Pelliccia. “The Department of Forestry was able to relocate some of those quickly to the Afton fire.”
With the Afton and Quaker Run fires contained, ACFR is focusing on preventing future forest flames. ACFR monitors data from both the Virginia Department of Forestry and the National Weather Service to determine if a burn ban should be issued.
While Albemarle’s burn ban is still in effect at press time, that could change soon according to Pelliccia.
“Fire ban season usually runs till about December 1. … I will say this year we’ve not seen a big spike in incidents as compared to the last few years,” she says. “With all the rain that we’re anticipating getting in the next couple of days, we may end [the burn ban] sooner.”
Even when the ban is lifted, precautions should still be taken when burning anything outdoors.
“We recommend keeping a really wide clearance around whatever it is you’re burning,” says Pelliccia. “We recommend 300 feet from structures—so any houses or any buildings—and then 500 feet from any other burning combustible.”
The holiday season is a prime time for increased calls to ACFR. Between decoration mishaps, cooking accidents, and candle overabundance, hearts aren’t the only things that can light up in the wintertime.
“There is a risk of fire from overloading circuits with extra lights. Hopefully no one’s using real candles in windows anymore, I think everyone’s switched to LED,” says Pelliccia. “We sometimes get a spike with people using turkey fryers … when they do it improperly and it splashes burning oil, that can sometimes catch stuff on fire.”
For more information on how to keep your holidays merry and bright (and safe!), visit albemarle.org/government/fire-rescue