More than two acres of land were burned by a wildfire that broke out under some power lines in Smithfield over the weekend.
Ben Arnold is the Principal Forest Ranger with DEM’s Division of Forest Environment. He says, "It was human caused, definitely. It could have been anything from somebody flicked a cigarette in there to something else."
He says the area that burned was covered in dried grasses and debris.
Arnold says, "It was leaf litter and light flashy fuels, grasses, and different brush."
The DEM says the key factor is the fact that there's no snow on the ground, leaving that grass and debris to dry out, which typically wouldn't happen until the spring.
Arnold says, "Even though it's been fairly wet this season, we've gotten our fair share of rain, it doesn't take long for those receptive fuels to dry out. You get a couple days of sunshine and a little bit of wind and that's all it takes."
He says even though conditions make it easy for fires to spread, prevention is key.