Dan Bross, KUAC – Fairbanks
The state is responding to the first wildfires of the season. State Forestry put out a few fires in the Fairbanks area this week, including one sparked by a campfire, and another by a burn pile. Fairbanks area state forestry logistics supervisor Arturo Frizzera says as soon as snow melts, dead vegetation offers a ready fuel.
Frizzera says the dry surface fuels are usually ignited by people complacent about spring fire risk. He says brush and debris burning is the most common source of early season fires.
Frizzera says the chance of low grass and brush fires will increase as things dry out up until green up. After that he says the wildfire threat includes lightning caused starts, and fires that consume a full range of fuels, especially highly flammable black spruce.
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