VIDEO: With leaves and temperatures falling across the region, concern over wildfires is hanging around. Five counties in Central Pennsylvania: Cumberland, Franklin, Perry, Juniata, and Mifflin, were placed under a high wildfire risk.
"We’ve gone several weeks now in November without much precipitation," Mike Kern, the chief forest fire warden for the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) – Bureau of Forestry.
The lack of rainfall has left the Susquehanna Valley facing dry conditions. To mitigate that, the DCNR is executing prescribed fires, also known as “controlled burns."
"We can keep the intensity down, [wildfires] don't do as much damage," Kern said. "We’re basically trying to burn the forested areas or what we call the fuels."