Is The Capital Region At Risk For Wildfires? See The Fire Danger Map

With wildfires burning all around New York State, is the Capital Region at risk of wildfires starting and spreading?

Wildfires have been burning through a good portion of the Catskill Mountains since this weekend. Crews continue to battle them and with breezy and dry conditions continuing it doesn't look like the risk of more fires has gotten any better.

Right now the wildfires are south of Albany, but our conditions remain much the same as those affected in orange and Sullivan counties. Does that put the Capital Region at risk of wildfires as well? For that we can consult the NYS DEC fire risk map to show us the areas most at risk.

There is a very large portion of Upstate New York that is under a high risk of wildfires right now and yes, it includes Albany, Saratoga, Greene, Warren and Renssselaer counties.

With the fires raging right now it makes me a little nervous about our chances. Please do everything you can to help prevent more fires. The NWS has provided several tips on how to do your part.

Keeping yard waste a debris away from you home is an easy way to prevent fire damage to your home with these high risk conditions going on.

Right now we are in a Red Flag Warning, which means:

A short-term, temporary warning, indicating the presence of a dangerous combination of temperature, wind, relative humidity, fuel or drought conditions which can contribute to new fires or rapid spread of existing fires. A Red Flag Warning can be issued at any Fire Danger level.

Please observe caution and be sure to not do anything like buring debris or anything else that could cause a spark at this time.