RI Environmental Officials Setting Fires To Prevent Large Wildfires

PORTSMOUTH, RI — The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) has scheduled planned burnings on Prudence Island in Portsmouth and in Coventry, Exeter, West Greenwich, Richmond, Glocester, Jamestown, and South Kingstown, to reduce the buildup of combustible materials in forests and grasslands, making destructive wildfires less likely.

The first prescribed burn of 2025 will take place within the week, weather permitting, on Prudence Island, ahead of DEM’s Forest Fire Program’s spring prescribed fire season. Typically, all prescribed burns are announced a day in advance due to weather and wind conditions. Prescribed, or planned, burning is a versatile tool that natural resources managers use for maintaining habitat diversity and to protect communities from extreme fires by reducing hazardous natural fuels.

DEM officials said they will advise the public again once it has identified a more reliable “burn window” in which to conduct a prescribed fire operation. A burn window refers to when the environmental variables, such as fuel moisture and weather conditions, are balanced so that the fire will accomplish its goals.

Goals include:

• Removing invasive and unwanted plant species that threaten ecosystems
• Slowing the spread of pest insects and disease
• Restoring native ecosystems such as pitch pine barrens, pine-oak woodlands, and maritime grasslands and shrublands
• Promoting the growth of native warm-season grasses and wildflowers to diversify pollinator habitats
• Recycling essential nutrients back into the soil
• Training municipal and wildland firefighters in the methods and techniques of suppressing wildfires.

DEM officials said one of the biggest factors in determining a burn window is forecasting the weather. Whereas a 10-day forecast is accurate about only half the time, a five-day forecast can accurately predict the weather around 90 percent of the time, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Wildfires are expected to become more frequent in Southern New England due to climate change. In 2024, DEM treated 130 acres of state property with prescribed fire, nearly a threefold increase from 2023. In 2024, DEM conducted shaded fuel break brush clearing projects along various stretches of forestland on state lands to lessen the risk of uncontrolled wildfires.

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