When most of us think about wildfires, we usually think about California. Maybe Canada. Not Rhode Island.
But spend a few minutes inside a prescribed burn in South Kingstown’s Great Swamp Management Area, it becomes clear the wildfire threat here is very real, especially during hot, dry spells like this week.
Rhode Island experienced 62 wildfires last year alone, according to the state Department of Environmental Management. Climate change is creating warmer, drier conditions and longer fire seasons nationwide, increasing wildfire risk even here in New England.
“By and large, this is an area that hasn’t had fire in a long time,” said David Walker, a Rhode Island wildland fire consultant leading a team this week burning out 25 acres of the Great Swamp.
“Hazardous fuels have built up,” Walker said, “And we’re trying to slowly chip away and remove some of that.”
To reduce that risk, the DEM crews are intentionally setting fires deep in the woods. Using red canisters called drip torches, full of diesel fuel and gasoline, they spill flames along a straight line in the forest, all the while paying careful attention to the direction of the wind.
A small fire grows quickly here, given the abundance of kindling. It quickly became so hot, the iPhone I was using to capture the scene stopped working.
These carefully controlled fires, known as prescribed burns, are a major part of the effort to manage some of the state’s more densely forested areas.
This spring, DEM says crews are targeting areas in Exeter, West Greenwich, Coventry, Richmond, Glocester, Jamestown, South Kingstown and elsewhere.
“We do it even in the middle of winter out on Block Island,” said Walker. “It’s tough on the firefighters, but we can get the job done.”
The idea is simple: burn away dry leaves, brush and debris before they become fuel for a dangerous wildfire.
“This, the leaf matter that you see on the floor, is just from last fall,” said DEM Fire Control Officer Greg Rathdun, who is based in the Arcadia Management Area, a state preserve that stretches across Exeter, Richmond, Hopkinton and West Greenwich. “Every year, you get that next layer of falling leaves in the fall that builds up on that forest floor.”
Invasive species of insects, like the Southern Pine Beetle, are a problem too.
In some of the more remote areas of the state, the forest quickly becomes full of kindling.
The burns are designed not just to reduce wildfire risk, but also to improve forest health for the creatures who live there. The New England cottontail, the region’s only native rabbit, apparently thrives in the young growth conditions that emerge after the area burns.
Fire has been a natural part of the forest ecosystem for eons, long before human beings encroached on this habitat.
“Fire used to be a natural part of the landscape in pre-colonial times,” said DEM spokesman Evan LaCross. “We’re trying to prevent uncontrolled wildfires that could have risk to residences and things like that. But we’re also using fire as a tool for forest health management.”
DEM says crews conducted 12 prescribed burns last year, treating more than 100 acres of state land.
Concerns about wildfire are real. Recent years have seen several major brush fires.
“Just recently in the past two or three years, we had our two biggest wildland fires on record in 50-plus years,” said Alan Waterman, a DEM Fire Control Officer.
The proximity of homes and businesses to these wooded areas raises the stakes considerably.
“If one home is lost, that counts as severe,” Walker said.
With Rhode Island facing another stretch of hot, dry weather, DEM officials urge residents to be careful with anything that could spark a brush fire. A badly managed campfire or even just a stray cigarette butt could have catastrophic consequences.
