March Worst Month for Wildfires

Mississippi Lowland Forest

Spring is just around the corner and that means the risk for wildfires is high. MPB’s Phoebe Judge reports on why March is so dangerous.

It’s been a busy month for Harrison County Fire Marshall George Mixon,

"We have been extremely busy this season. March is a very bad month for fires because of the winds and people are trying to burn and clean up because it is nice."

Along with the March winds, the state is also facing a 6 ½ inch rain deficit, which is keeping the dry grass that has been frost killed during the winter even drier. That all adds to prime wildfire conditions. Jimmy Mordica with the Mississippi Forestry Commission, says it only takes one leaf,

“You know if you are raking up that leaf pile and trying to burn it and a 15 or 20 mph gust of wind comes and takes one leaf out of that pile and blows it onto your neighbor’s property or to the adjacent woods and then you have a 15 or 20 mph forest fire.”

Almost 50 percent of all wildfires that take place in a year occur in March, and about half of all those fires are caused by escaped debris. Along with the destruction, starting a wildfire, even accidently, could be a costly move says Mordica,

“One thing that they may not be aware of is if the fire stays on their own property we put it out at no charge. If the fire escapes their property and burns lands of another, the value of that property then becomes a liability.”

Mississippi has almost 20 million acres of forest. Over 30,000 of those acres were burned by wildfires in the fiscal year 2008.