Officials with the West Virginia Division of Forestry are watching the weather with growing concern as a recent dry spell could indicate a bad fall forest fire season.

Assistant state forester Ben Webster says a recent dry spell has evaporated four to five inches of groundwater on forest floors.

While a wet summer has kept lower layers damp, the dryness still raises fears that West Virginia's run of mild fire seasons in recent years could be over.

Last spring, the Division of Forestry reported 773 fires that burned roughly 9,400 acres. In contrast, there were 889 in all of 2008, covering some 13,000 acres.

Webster says the state will have a good idea of how the season will go by mid-October.

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