Brush Fires: What Causes Them and How You Can Prevent Them

Baseball isn't the only season to accompany the arrival of spring. The warmer temperatures and windy days also herald the arrival of brush fire season.

South suburban residents have probably seen the large, black plumes of smoke billowing up from some of the open, grassy fields where subdivisions and neighborhoods start to give way to rural areas. In the past couple weeks, there have been blazes in Tinley Park, Country Club Hills, Palos and Frankfort.

READ: Smoke From Controlled Burn Closes Part of Central Avenue in Tinley Park

"The reason is it's windy, and the sun is starting to dry [the dead leaves and brush] out now," said Larry Rauch, a Frankfort Fire Protection District assistant chief. Those conditions, which also are prevalent in the fall, make fields and grasslands potential tinderboxes, he added.

The seasonal nature, though, means firefighters in Frankfort and other surrounding communities are on alert for these types of blazes, Rauch said. And brush fire season is no different from other seasons; it eventually ends.

"Once we start getting good rains, and things start getting green," Rauch said concerning the type of conditions that aren't conducive to brush fires.

But just because circumstances are ripe for brush fires, it doesn't mean they ignite on their own.

"It wasn't mice with matches," said Tinley Park Fire Chief Ken Dunn about what the cause of an April 4 brush fire in Country Club Hills.

Human carelessness, he said, is the biggest culprit when it comes to brush fires. Homeowners burning dead branches, or a driver tossing a cigarette butt out a car window are enough to create sparks that can carry and ignite the dry, dead growth, Dunn added.

READ: Frankfort Brush Fire Kept Firefighters on Scene for Hours

"Especially out in Will County, people just figure they can burn off the dead brush," Rauch said. "They don't take into consideration the wind conditions or that water might not be readily available."

And once a brush fire starts, the blaze can spread quickly, especially if there's nothing but dead vegetation and gusty winds to fuel it. There's also the potential for flames to stay hidden under the dead brush, Rauch said.

"In our region, fires are extremely unlikely to cross roads into residential areas, as our roads serve as effective firebreaks against the Midwest’s lower intensity fires (as opposed to fires in the West)," said Don Parker, a spokesman for the Forest Preserve District of Cook County.

So what can residents do to stay safe during brush fire season? Parker offered these tips:

• Support prescribed, or controlled, burns in the forest preserves. This is the best way to reduce the risk of wildfires, Parker said. But these need to be done safely and when conditions, such as wind and dryness, limit a potential brush fire's "fuel load," he added. The trained crews used to do burns for the preserves are very professional, safety-conscious and haven't been a problem for his department, Dunn said. Contingency plans involving the crews and local fire department also are put in place before each burn, Parker said.
• Be responsible handling fire in the preserves. Observe fire bans, keep hot coals used to grill in marked coal bins and extinguish cigarettes properly, Parker said.
• Use common sense. The likelihood of a visitor to the preserve encountering a wildfire is rare, but if it happens, he or she needs to be alert to the surroundings and not approach the brush fire, even if it's only suspected to be one, Parker said. Visitors also should immediately call 911 if they suspect a fire has broken out, he added.