State plans work to limit forest fire risks in Warren Grove
By ROB SPAHR
Staff Writer, 609-978-2012
Published: Thursday, May 01, 2008
Representatives from the state Forest Fire Service held a public meeting Wednesday evening at the Warren Grove Fire House to formally announce a plan that they hope will make containing local pinelands fires easier.One year ago this month, a wildfire started at the Warren Grove Gunnery Range and burned for days, damaging more than17,000 acres of pinelands and destroying several homes before it was contained.The project, which is contingent on obtaining adequate funding, will focus on thinning the forest in the 100,000 acres around the area of Warren Grove and creating buffers along several dirt roads that run through the forest.The first of the roads that the Forest Fire Service hopes to create the 100-foot wide buffer along is Hay Road, which connects Route 539 and Route 72, State Firewarden Maris Gablicks said.The purpose of the buffers is to break up the massive block of pinelands between Route 539 and Route 72 into a series of smaller and easier-to-maintain pieces, according to Division Firewarden Mike Drake.
By doing this, Drake said, firefighters could have the ability to stop a fire before it has a chance to threaten homes like it did last May.Also, by creating the buffers, the forest fire service will be able to eliminate the "canopy" above these roadways that are created when the branches of trees grow to the point that they touch and make it easier for fire to spread from one tree to the next.Drake, who is the project's manager, said the plan had to be approved by the state Pinelands Commission and the state Division of Fish and Wildlife because it involved the trimming of trees and is an area where threatened and endangered species are located. Those approvals are in place. The service has 10 years to complete the project before it has to apply for another permit, Drake said.However, when asked by a member of the public if engineering had been done to address any stormwater management issues that could be created by creating the buffer and how much the project is expected to cost, Drake said no engineering or cost estimates had been completed.Drake said the project will be funded by grants through the U.S. Forest Service and estimated the planning phase of the project alone would cost $17,000, of which the state was responsible for matching 25 percent."Our next step is to get the cost it will take to do the work," Drake said. "If the amounts we get end up too prohibitive, we probably won't be able to do this."To e-mail Robert Spahr at The Press:RSpahr@pressofac.com
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