CAMDEN, Ark. — When you think of wildfires, California or Colorado likely comes to mind, but they affect us plenty right here in Arkansas.
While the Natural State sees more fires than the western United States, our ability to control them is much better, according to the Department of Agriculture
“Our fires are just smaller than those out west. One, it’s a whole lot easier for us to contain our fires than it is for them. We can respond a little faster than they do out there. We’re not quite as remote as they are. There’s a lot more people and a lot more access by roads and we can attack them usually a little faster," explained Robert Murphy, the department's emergency services director.
When prescribing a burn, Murphy said it really depends on what your objective is when it comes to the fire— whether that be a site preparation burn or preventing the spread of a wildfire.
“What’s going to be burning once we light the fire? Is it going to be hot or not as hot? How’s the fire going to behave when we light it? All those things are going to go into when are we going to do the burn," he described.
However, there is one factor that must always be considered during these prescribed burns.
“Once we know the wind direction it really limits the number of days that we can burn because if there is a smoke-sensitive target, we really have to pay attention to the wind direction," Murphy added.
As the weather continues to change, Arkansans can expect to see even more prescribed burns in the future.
“We’ve set new records every year. We’ve burned a little over 400,000 acres in the state last year. That’s been growing each year for the last 4-5 years," he said. "We set a new record in calendar year 2023 and we expect to set a new record in calendar year 2024.”