Fire Rescue News- FOREST FIRE SERVICE DEPENDS ON EYES IN THE SKY TO HELP DETECT FIRES
ATLANTIC CO.--Most of the state was under a fire weather watch Wednesday and here in South Jersey, a very high fire danger remains in effect. Officials literally try to go above and beyond when trying to spot forest fires before they become major incidents.
"Look out towards the pines here, towards Bass River." Al Valentino, a member of New Jersey Forest Fire Service has a.......Continue Reading
very important job, on top a very high perch. "We look for any smoke that may be on the horizon, or within range from us," he explained.
Sitting 100 -feet up in the McKeetown Fire Tower, it's his job to detect any forest fires within the vicinity. "We look for smoke," explained Valentino, "what color it is, what direction it's headed."
"They're our eyes in the sky," said Bill Donnelly, Assistant Division Fire Warden with the NJ Forest Fire Service, "they're up above the treetops, they can see things as they start." Which is a vital role in the Forest Fire Service, especially when most of the state is under a fire weather watch. Here in South Jersey, the fire danger remains very high right. "Humidity's dropped today, winds are blowing, things are dry, we haven't had the snowfall we're accustomed to over the last couple of years, so it's just a matter of time should fire break out."
Which is why officials say it's so important to have someone in one of the more than twenty fire towers spread out across the state. When a fire is spotted, they communicate with each other to pinpoint a location. "Hopefully they pick up the smoke as well," said Valentino, about triangulating a location, "the more towers that cross our lines in strings, the more accurate we're gonna be."
As soon as smoke is spotted by someone in one of the towers, and a location is determined, members of the Forest Fire Service in the community are ready to go, and are dispatched within minutes to that location. It can mean the difference between a small brush fire and a major incident. "As soon as a fire starts, they're sending help right away," explained Donnelly, "they're really beneficial to us, they give us the jump when fires break out."
Eyes in the sky that provide an invaluable service to those on the ground, trying to keep all of us safe.
Officials with the local division of the state Forest Fire service say their numbers are up so far this year for fires, and attribute that to the mild weather.
