South La. wildfires show evidence of drought (3/10)

Posted March 9, 2009 at 11:56 pm
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FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

Three wildfires burning in south Louisiana since the weekend are evidence that part of the state is in a drought, a climatologist with the National Drought Mitigation Center said Monday.

Almost all of Louisiana is abnormally dry for this time of year, said Mark Svoboda, but the southern region — or about 45 percent of the state — is experiencing a moderate drought that includes below-normal precipitation and dry soil and vegetation.

“It’s been exceptionally dry for six months,” Svoboda said. “If this continues from March into April, conditions will continue to deteriorate, and it could impact the growing season for agriculture.”

Besides hurting the winter wheat crops, an ongoing drought could hinder the production and harvesting of corn, sorghum, soybeans, cotton and vegetables, said state Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain.

“A continued drought could cause a delay in planting because of inadequate soil moisture,” Strain said. “The corn must be planted by mid-April, and soybeans and cotton do best when planted by the end of May.”

Strain said insufficient rain is the biggest problem. In the last three weeks, the southern part of the state has had 0.27 inches of rain compared with the normal level of 3.5 inches.

Combined with strong winds and residue from chemical spills left on the ground from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 and last year’s Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, the dry conditions fueled three wildfires across south Louisiana this weekend, Strain said.

A wildfire in the Sabine National Wildlife Refuge that has burned about 3,440 acres over the past week appeared to be out Monday, said Diane Borden-Billiot, spokeswoman for the refuge.

“We still have smoke, but no active flames,” she said.

A release from the refuge said many totes, drums and canisters deposited within the refuge by Hurricane Ike were exposed after the fire burned off dead vegetation that was hiding them. The Environmental Protection Agency will examine the containers later this week to see if any of them hold hazardous materials.

On Sunday, a second wildfire burned onto the south-central side of the refuge, just into Management Unit 4. It reportedly burned vegetation along a levee, but did not spread north into the unit. It covered 1,528 acres, mostly off refuge, officials said.

Two of the southeast Louisiana fires Strain called “deliberate arson.” No suspects have been arrested.

Those fires, near Slidell and Mandeville, engulfed about 1,500 acres of forested area. Though they were still burning Monday, they appeared to be largely contained, said Kirk Casanova, district manager for the state Department of Agriculture.

None of the fires were an immediate threat to homes or businesses, but at least one school — Monteleone Junior High — closed Monday as a precaution. Casanova said the dry weather and strong winds made the weekend fires unpredictable and difficult to contain. As planes flew over the fires to monitor them Monday, bulldozers continued to clear brush, trees and ground debris that could fuel them, Casanova said.

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