Hundreds Of Brushfires In Maryland - March May Be Driest Since 1871

[hatrack]

A flick of a cigarette was all it took for a parched hillside in northern Harford County to erupt in flames this week - one of hundreds of brush fires in the state in recent weeks that officials blame on conditions that could make this the driest March since record-keeping began in 1871. Besides the blaze in Harford, significant fires have broken out in Anne Arundel, Prince George's and Frederick counties. There even was one in Baltimore City this week.

The fires have ranged from tiny roadside nuisances that required a short dousing with water to a 100-acre inferno in an environmental area that took three days and more than 100 firefighters to extinguish. State foresters have responded to 292 wildfires that have scorched 640 acres this month. That's more than double the normal number for this time of year and the most since the mid-1980s, said Monte Mitchell, fire supervisor with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Forest Service.

Hundreds more fires have been fought by local fire officials and don't show up in the state statistics. Anne Arundel County, for example, has logged 342 fires, including 32 on a single day.

EDIT

Officials blame warm weather, blustery winds and stingy precipitation that as of yesterday totaled just 0.18 inch for the month, a fraction of the 3.93 inches usually recorded in March. Depending on what happens over the next week, the state could topple the record low of 0.46 inch set in 1910.

EDIT

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-te.md.brush25mar25,0,6512285.story

[knowbody0]

1. send george out there

he loves cutting brush!