As the fall forest fire season begins in Ohio, officials are concerned that fires might be more severe than usual because of abnormally dry conditions all year.

"The conditions are right that we could have a bad fire season," said Paul Whyte, district forest manager for the Ohio Division of Forestry. "If we do, it will come up real quick, so we're trying to warn people now."

The fire season, which lasts from Oct. 1 through Nov. 30, happens during fall because of windy conditions and lower humidity, Whyte said.

This season is so volatile that it is illegal to burn anything near a wooded area between the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. in Ohio.

Small personal fires are more likely to get out of control and spread between those hours because the weather is warmer, more windy and more humid than it is at night, Whyte said.

But this summer's drought will be the main contributor to the possible severity of this year's fire season. Forests in the area have received considerably less rainfall than normal, said Galen Johnson, fire program manager for Wayne National Forest.

Because of this rainfall deficit, vegetation in the forest is drier than usual. This drier vegetation will contribute to hotter fires with taller flames, he said.

While flames in normal fire seasons reach average heights of two feet, the flames could be as high as eight feet this season, Whyte said.

Because the biggest cause of forest fires in Southeastern Ohio is people, either through personal fires or arson, the states fire ban is an important precaution, he said.

"We ask that anyone out in the woods just be cautious with fire," he said.

To prevent any potential problems, the division of forestry has been working with the local volunteer fire departments to prepare for the fire season, said Don Brooks, assistant district forester for the Ohio Division of Forestry.

The division has updated emergency service phone numbers and identified problem areas. It also has designated protection zones for the fire-prone areas among the volunteer fire departments, he said.

In addition to training firefighters to put out forest fires, division personnel also are supervising the inspection of the volunteer fire departments' equipment, Brooks said.

Fire department representatives also are planning for the potentially dangerous season themselves by revising their tactics for fighting forest fires.

Under normal conditions, firefighters circle a fire and rake nearby leaves and debris away until the soil is exposed to prevent fires from spreading, Brooks said.

This creates a fire line that will trap the fire. The firefighters then ignite leaves and debris on the inside edge of the fire line, so the flames burn toward the original fire, he said.

This causes the original fire to run out of fuel faster and burn itself out inside the fire line. Otherwise, the fire would expand towards the firefighters and would cause safety concerns, Brooks said.

But, firefighters will have to use additional techniques because of this season's lack of rain.

When flames are higher than normal because of dry conditions, firefighters use bulldozers to create a fire line because the machines make wider lines than rakes.

Normally, a fire line is enough to stop a fire from spreading, but when the forest is dry, surface fires can become ground fires. By burning down into dried-out tree roots, fires can cross below the fire line and ignite on the other side.

If this is expected, a bulldozer is used to dig the fire line to the tree root level, instead of just to soil level, Brooks said.

This will prevent fires from crossing the fire line underground.

The expected higher flames, however, will not cause severe damage to the forest's trees because they are more resistant to flames than the pines in the California region.

"What burns here are the leaves," said Brooks. "The heat doesn't usually get high enough to burn live tree branches."

Despite the many challenges the 1999 fire season could present, Brooks said the division of forestry and the villages and townships of southeastern Ohio are prepared.

"If it does get bad, we're ready to go," he said.