The Mississippi Forestry Commission put out 18 wildfires in the past two days.
“The combination of low RH [relative humidity] and gusty wind contributed to the uptick in wildfire activity we saw yesterday – our guys put out nine wildfires,” said Randy Giachelli, Fire Chief with the Mississippi Forestry Commission. “Check your local weather forecast before doing any outdoor burning. The #1 cause of wildfires in Mississippi are debris burns that escaped control. Don’t burn on windy days or when conditions are dry.”
List of wildfires Monday, December 11 by county:
Alcorn – 5 acres
Attala – 3 acres
Benton – 120 acres
Grenada – 2 acres
Holmes – 5 acres
Lowndes – 4 acres
Marshall – 1 acre
Tallahatchie – 2 fires for 24 acres
Since October 1, 2017, MFC Wildland Firefighters have responded to & suppressed 238 wildfires that burned 2,215 acres burned statewide.
They were able to save 423 structures while 22 structures were either damaged or destroyed.
Giachelli said that while many think about the wildfires in California, Mississippi wildfires can be just as dangerous and destroy even more land.
Photos courtesy of the Mississippi Forestry Commission.
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Click here to see the video of the wildfires.
Video courtesy of MFC Forester, Brian James.
