Above normal fire activity in West Virginia
9/11/2024 12:00:00 AM
CATEGORIES:
Fire
AFFECTED AREAS:
West Virginia
Cabell County, WV
Kanawha County, WV
Putnam County, WV
Start Date: 7/1/2024
- End Date: 9/3/2024
Drought has contributed to an unusually high number of fires with 164 forest and grassland fires in West Virginia since July 1. In the Kanawha County area, there have been 52 fires over the same time.
WSAZ-TV NBC 3 (Huntington, W.V.), Sept 3, 2024
July and August are typically the off season for wildfires, but Region 5, which is comprised of Kanawha, Cabell and Putnam counties has had 49 fires since July 1. If the pre-fall fire season is busy, given the drought, then the fall fire season, which begins on October 1, could be extremely active.
Across West Virginia, there have been 155 blazes since July 1 with most of them occurring in parts of the state that were particularly dry. The ground is so parched that the fire was burning into the soil.
Staffing was an issue for firefighting also. There are about 65 field staff members in all of West Virginia, so volunteer firefighters step in to help, but those local fire departments are also shorthanded.
WCHS-TV ABC 8 (Charleston, W.V.), Aug 29, 2024
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