High winds in southwestern Pennsylvania had first responders on high alert over the weekend, and the concerns went beyond downed trees and power lines.
Brush fires were reported in Indiana Township, Tarentum, Reserve, Unity Township, Hempfield and other local municipalities.
The potential for the high winds to carry a spark for significant distances led Southern Armstrong Regional Police Department to issue a “no-burn” warning Sunday afternoon.
“We are currently experiencing dangerous weather conditions, and our area has already had multiple fires today,” a social media post from the department said. “Current conditions and wind are causing fires to spread rapidly and become difficult to control.”
Although the weather turned abruptly and blanketed the region with snow Monday night into Tuesday, brush fires will continue to be issue during high-wind events as spring officially begins Friday.
Southern Armstrong Chief Chis Fabec said the post Sunday was precautionary in response to a significant number of brush fire calls throughout the region. He did not have an exact number of brush fire calls that occurred over the weekend.
“There was a lot going on in the county,” Fabec said. “I think we had two in our areas over the weekend. Then on Sunday, whenever (brush fires) started popping up again all around us, we issued the order.”
Southern Armstrong covers Ford City, Gilpin and Freeport.
The post asked people to refrain from burning brush, trash or any other debris until the National Weather Service’s wind advisory ended Sunday night.
“We had no issues in our coverage areas after that notice,” Fabec said.
He said there was a large brush fire near his neighborhood in Murrysville after the wind blew down a large power line.
A 66 mph wind gust was recorded at Pittsburgh International Airport, the National Weather Service said. It was the fourth strongest wind gust on record not caused by a thunderstorm.
The top gust ever was 83 mph on July 10, 1992, which the weather service said was from a thunderstorm.
The top wind gust from Friday’s event was 75 mph recorded just before 6 p.m. in DuBois, which the weather service said was comparable to an EF-0 tornado or a Category 1 hurricane.
According to Crabtree Fire Department based in Salem Township, volunteers tackled multiple brush fires beginning Friday night and into Monday morning.
“Crews handled the normal trees and wires down, along with a large brush fire due to downed power lines, fire alarms, and a smoke condition inside of a local education facility,” a social media post from the department said.
Firefighters in Fawn battled a brush fire Friday on a steep hillside off Metz Road as winds swirled around them.
Because of the fire’s remote location, they wore tanks on their backs in order to get water to the fire. Each time they ran out of water, they had to go back down the hillside to refill the tanks and trek back up to the fire.
Allegheny Valley Volunteer Fire Company, a consolidated department formed from Harmar and Springdale fire departments, responded to three fires, two of which were brush fires, on Friday.
The first was a large brush fire on a hillside on Guys Run Road just into Indiana Township. Later in the day, the department’s utility task vehicle was requested to assist with a large brush fire in Penn Hills.
“Crews operated on that scene for approximately 4 hours before all hot spots were contained,” a social media post from the department said.
Bauerstown Volunteer Fire Department in Shaler was called to a brush fire in Reserve a little before 3 p.m. Sunday. According to a Facebook post from the department, the fire was started by downed power lines.
“Due to the winds, the engine company requested additional engines and tanker task force to start. The tankers were because Pittview Avenue had no water due to a water main break on Mt. Troy Road,” the post said.