Wildfires in Madison County and other parts of Virginia continue to burn and conditions are dry enough that their possible spread is a concern. As such, Albemarle County has issued a county wide warning to discourage outdoor fires.
“During this burn advisory, residents are advised to exercise caution when doing any outdoor burning and to comply with County burn regulations,” reads an alert sent out this morning.
The notice points out that most of Albemarle County is in the “moderate drought” stage and that no significant rainfall is expected until later in the week.
“If you can, please wait until conditions change for any open air burning on your property,” the notice continues.
The National Integrated Drought Information System reports that this is the 31st driest year from the last 129 years of measurement. Through the end of September, rainfall in Albemarle was 4.26 inches below normal level.
The Virginia Department of Forestry this morning reports a total of 39 fires covering 6,526.3 acres across the Commonwealth. The Quaker Run fire to the west of Criglersville is the largest active blaze in the state with a total of 2,480 acres and considered to be 40 percent contained. (view the website)
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This story was posted on November 10, 2023 but backdated to November 7 as the acreage of active fires at the Quaker Run has increased. I’ll have more updates on that in the November 11 edition of the newsletter.