With a mild winter season quickly turning into spring, the urge to clean up outside is growing.

People are out raking up sticks and dead leaves in preparation of spring flowers.But spring warmth also means the urge to burn debris, and because of the lower than normal precipitation over the winter months, it means conditions are perfect for brush fires.According to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, brush fires destroy about 10,000 acres of private and state forest land every year in Pennsylvania.Last year, Carbon County held the record for the two largest brush fires in the state, claiming a combined 1,500 acres of forest on the Blue Mountain in East Penn Township and near Jack Frost Ski Area in Kidder Township.Just this week, fire crews battled small brush fires in Mahoning, Penn Forest and Towamensing townships, and as a result, municipalities are beginning to issue burn bans until conditions improve."We highly recommend not doing any outside burning until these very dry weather conditions change and until later in the spring when all the trees, bushes and fields turn green," said Mark Nalesnik, Carbon County Emergency Management Agency coordinator.As of Wednesday night, Nesquehoning, Jim Thorpe, Penn Forest Township and Mahoning Township were the only municipalities in Carbon with burn bans in effect, but because of the dry conditions, Nalesnik expects more to follow suit over the next few days.Human errorSome think that most brush fire risks only increase in the dry, hot summer months, but that is a common misconception.According to DCNR's website, "The greatest danger of wildfires is in the spring months of March, April and May and the autumn months of October and November."Of the fires, 98 percent are caused by humans.In May 2015, Wesley Keller, forest fire specialist supervisor for DCNR, said that the fire that ravaged 674 acres near Jack Frost Ski Area was the product of arson after all other possible sources had been ruled out.In the case of the Blue Mountain fire, where 825 acres were burned, the cause was found to be accidental when a piece of equipment malfunctioned.This fire was compared to the fast-moving fires of Southern California.A total of 72 separate agencies and over 200 volunteer firefighters from four counties, as well as every aircraft available in the state were needed to get the fire under control.The costs to battle both blazes skyrocketed into the six digits as a result of the manpower, equipment, aircraft response and supplies needed.Prescribed burnsThere are some times when brush fires are good for the forests.DCNR conducts prescribed burns annually throughout state game lands and forests to help the forests flourish, returning nutrients to the soil through burned flora and fauna.The Pennsylvania Environmental Protection Agency may prescribe burns to help enhance those nutrients, as well as wipe out possible fuel sources on the forest floors for brush fires.According to DCNR's prescribed fire standards, safety is key to a successful prescribed burn. Weather is monitored throughout the burns and clear boundaries are set before it begins.Preventing firesThere are ways people can also take an active role to help prevent forest fires.Like the popular slogan of Smokey Bear, "Only you can prevent wildfires," Nalesnik and Carbon County Fire Chiefs Association President John McArdle stressed that prevention starts on the residential level."Make a fire safe zone around your house," McArdle said. "Clean flammable vegetation and debris from at least 30 feet around the house and any outbuildings. Embers from burning materials can be carried in the air and ignite the ground cover in a matter of seconds."DCNR also encourages communities that are built in heavily wooded areas to follow the guidelines listed in the Pennsylvania Firewise Community Program.Fishermen, campers and hikers are reminded that open fires are prohibited on state forest lands between March 1 and May 25.A person who causes a wildfire will be responsible for the costs associated with the damage, fire response and may face criminal penalties.Protecting your home• Make a fire safe zone around your house.• Clean flammable vegetation and debris from at least 30 feet around the house and any outbuildings.• Keep your chimney clean and install a spark-arrest screen.• Keep trees 10 feet away from the chimney.• Wood piles should be 25 feet from the house and fuel tanks.• Prune dead branches to within 8 feet of the ground.• Make sure driveways and accesses to your home are wide enough for emergency vehicles.• Keep your roofs and deck clear of leaves and debris.If you must burn• Be sure your municipality does not have a burn ban in place.• Report your "Controlled Burn" to the Carbon County 911 Center by calling the nonemergency phone number: 570-325-9111.• Be sure to contain your burn project to a small, controllable area and continuously monitor the burn without leaving the site even for a few minutes.• If the municipality doesn't have a burn ban and you need to burn, make sure the wind is calm and you have a garden hose or buckets of water and a shovel ready just in case.• Most importantly, if your municipality implements a burn ban, do not violate the ordinance.