Ky. national park dryest it has been in over a decade

KENTUCKY. (WKYT) - Extremely dry weather continues to create a high fire danger across Eastern Kentucky.

At the Red River Gorge, in the Daniel Boone National Forest, it hasn’t been this dry in 12 years.

“Here, in the Red River Gorge, we get a tremendous about of backcountry camping use, a lot of people with campfires, in the backcountry, and that is the number one cause of wildfires, here, in the Red River Gorge, escaped campfires,” said Public Affairs Staff Officer at Daniel Boone National Forest Tim Eling.

The majority of the forest fires that happen in the Red River Gorge, happen because of backcountry campers who fail to completely extinguish campfires like this one.

To prevent a forest fire, put out your fire, you do that by adding water, stirring it, then adding more water. Then put your hand close to the pit. If it’s cool, then you are good to go.

“When you are coming out to a place like the Red River Gorge and maybe you want to do some backcountry camping, think about what you are going to be doing that night, and one thing that I would recommend is maybe not even having a fire,” Eiling said. “Maybe just looking up at the stars, doing some star gazing.”

98% of wildfires are caused by humans and can be prevented.

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