National Drought Mitigation Center
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National Drought Mitigation Center
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Excessive fire activity in Alabama
11/7/2016 12:00:00 AM


CATEGORIES:
Fire
AFFECTED AREAS:
Alabama
Autauga County, AL
Baldwin County, AL
Barbour County, AL
Bibb County, AL
Blount County, AL
Bullock County, AL
Butler County, AL
Calhoun County, AL
Chambers County, AL
Cherokee County, AL
Chilton County, AL
Choctaw County, AL
Clarke County, AL
Clay County, AL
Cleburne County, AL
Coffee County, AL
Colbert County, AL
Conecuh County, AL
Coosa County, AL
Covington County, AL
Crenshaw County, AL
Cullman County, AL
Dale County, AL
Dallas County, AL
DeKalb County, AL
Elmore County, AL
Escambia County, AL
Etowah County, AL
Fayette County, AL
Franklin County, AL
Geneva County, AL
Greene County, AL
Hale County, AL
Henry County, AL
Houston County, AL
Jackson County, AL
Jefferson County, AL
Lamar County, AL
Lauderdale County, AL
Lawrence County, AL
Lee County, AL
Limestone County, AL
Lowndes County, AL
Macon County, AL
Madison County, AL
Marengo County, AL
Marion County, AL
Marshall County, AL
Mobile County, AL
Monroe County, AL
Montgomery County, AL
Morgan County, AL
Perry County, AL
Pickens County, AL
Pike County, AL
Randolph County, AL
Russell County, AL
Saint Clair County, AL
Shelby County, AL
Sumter County, AL
Talladega County, AL
Tallapoosa County, AL
Tuscaloosa County, AL
Walker County, AL
Washington County, AL
Wilcox County, AL
Winston County, AL

Start Date: 10/1/2016 - End Date: 11/7/2016
Since Oct. 1, about 1,421 wildfires charred 15,409 acres in Alabama, said the governor’s office. This year’s fire figures were far above that from the same time in 2015, when 232 fires burned 1,846 acres. Officials attributed the dramatic increase in fire activity to drought. Birmingham News (Ala.), Nov. 7, 2016 More than 900 wildfires charred more than 100,000 acres in Alabama in October, reported the Alabama Forestry Commission on Oct. 24. Low humidity and a lack of rain have upped the fire danger, prompting Gov. Bentley to sign a Drought Emergency Declaration on Oct. 12. Forty-six counties in north and central Alabama were not to burn materials, while those in south Alabama were in a fire alert. "The situation causes grave concern for fire officials with the agency struggling with reduced availability of both firefighting manpower and suppression resource," said interim State Forester Gary Cole as the state’s streams and rivers began to run dry. Birmingham News (Ala.), Oct. 24, 2016 During the first 17 days of October, the Alabama Forestry Commission recorded 631 fires burning 6,861 acres. In comparison, in the first 17 days of October 2015, there were only 78 fires that blackened 615 acres. WSFA-TV NBC 12 Montgomery (Ala.), Oct. 18, 2016
Sources