Fire Weather Watch in Effect Tuesday for Wayland

Wayland and surrounding towns have enjoyed a mild winter, an unusually warm start to spring, and very dry conditions.

All of those conditions combined will mean risk of outdoor fires will be high on Tuesday.

As of Patch's deadline Monday night, the National Weather Service was warning residents a fire weather watch would be in effect for the entire day on Tuesday.

Northwest winds blowing at 10 to 20 mph with gusts as high as 30 mph, combined with relative humidity levels of 10 to 15 percent, will allow any fires that develop on Tuesday to spread rapidly.

According to Wayland Fire Chief Vinnie Smith, he will carefully monitor conditions and will make a final decision by 8:30 a.m. Tuesday as to whether outdoor burning will be banned for the day.

"When a Red Flag Warning is issued in the area, we cancel burning permits for that day," Smith said via email. "The Fire Weather Watch seems to the last step before the Red Flag Warning goes up."

A fire weather watch means that critical fire weather conditions are forecast to occur.

Smith reminded residents that everyone with a burning permit must register that permit on the Burning Permit website each day they intend to burn. The website is updated to reflect whether burning is allowed on any given day.

"We try to take a middle of the road/common sense approach ... allow open burning according to the rules when appropriate, and not give permission when the conditions make it risky in terms of fire or health," Smith said.