State division of forestry concludes another busy fire season
27 January 2023
Published by: https://www.fayettetribune.com
USA – CHARLESTON — The West Virginia Division of Forestry (WVDOF) concluded the fall fire season on Dec. 31, 2022.
“It was a very active season,” said Assistant State Forester-Fire Jeremy Jones, WV DOF.
In fact, both the spring and fall fire seasons kept the foresters, investigators and wardens extremely busy with 890 fires taking place and 20,395 acres burned.
WVDOF is tasked under Chapter 20 of State Code with the prevention, detection and suppression of all wildfires throughout the state.
Federal properties such as New River Gorge National Park and Monongahela National Forest are maintained by the federal government and utilize federal employees to control fires in those areas.
The wildfires that WVDOF suppressed in 2022 are categorized by the following causes with the number of occurrences provided: campfires (9), children (19), debris burning (311), equipment use (254), incendiary (174), lightning (3), railroad (0), smoker (0), and miscellaneous (68).