The forest fires that devoured almost 1,500 acres in Carbon County this spring, hold the record for the year as the two largest forest fires in the state, an official told the county Thursday.

During the Carbon County Commissioners' meeting on Thursday, Wes Keller, forest fire specialist supervisor for DCNR, gave an update on the fire, which burned 674 acres near Jack Frost Ski Area over a 10-day period.Keller said the fire was started by a person and he called it an arson. He said an arson is determined because all other sources of fire starters have been ruled out."We ruled out everything that causes fire in that location," he said. "There is only one other thing that starts a fire in Pennsylvania if you rule out the other seven things, and that's human."How it was caused, we don't know, that but we narrowed it down to human cause and narrowed down a location," Keller said.No suspect has been named and no charges have been filed to date. "We're continuing to follow up on leads and tips." Keller said.With regard to the East Penn Township fire, which started April 18 and burned 825 acres, Keller said that the cause was determined to be accident due to equipment. Keller said the suspect is a local person, but did not release a name. The suspect is in litigation with the state over starting the fire."If you cause a fire, whether accidental or malicious, you're responsible for suppression costs," he said, noting that costs could escalate when a large-scale response and aircraft are deemed necessary. "The cost could be up to six figures and you're responsible for that. Commonwealth law states we recover suppression costs."Commissioners' Chairman Wayne Nothstein added that the suppression costs do not include any volunteer agencies such as fire departments who do not charge for their services.Characteristicsof forest firesThe two fires combined, Keller said, hold the record for the year as the two largest forest fires in the state."The one in East Penn Township was very fast moving and very dangerous," Keller said, adding that the types of trees and plants that are found in the area are typically found in areas like Southern California."We had 300-foot spotting distances and flame heights as high as 97 feet," Keller said. "The only time that happens is in Southern California."The fire spread amazingly fast because of the types of trees and brush in the area.Keller said only 12 minutes past from the time the first report came in to the time the first emergency responders arrived on scene. During that time, 25 acres burned."That equates to the fire spreading at one acre every one-and-a-half minutes," he said. "We can't put people or machines in front of that kind of fire because it burns too fast. So we let Mother Nature take its course and step back. We guided it around houses because it was too dangerous to be in front of it."Over the next two days, 72 separate agencies from four counties, as well as every aircraft available in the state, which included five firefighting aircraft, a helicopter and a recon plane, were used to fight the blaze.Commissioner Thomas J. Gerhard said that the situation could have been worse if it wasn't for the rain that occurred during the fire.With regard to the Kidder Township Pipeline 1 fire, Keller said that the dry conditions helped keep the fire fueled."We went back 10 days and put fires out for 10 days after the initial call," he said.In that incident, approximately 70 separate agencies, a state team, as well as utility companies were on scene to help with the blaze.Command posts were set up at Jack Frost Ski Resort. Blue Ridge Realty provided assistance.Overwhelming responsesKeller commended Mark Nalesnik, Carbon County Emergency Management Agency coordinator; Gary Williams, 911 director; and the EMA and 911 crews who helped with overseeing the operations at both scenes."We had a state type three team come in, which is an incident management team that handles large incidents of all kinds," he said, noting that when the county signed over the scene to the state, the team was very impressed by the information package they received. "The package of information they got from Mark and Gary and their crews surpassed any information they got at any incident in the commonwealth. It was so accurate and so detailed."All the forms were exactly what you would see on a large-scale national incident. They were very impressed," Keller added. "These folks came in from Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and all over the state and they were impressed with how well organized this county was and by the number of volunteers. They said they've never seen this kind of cooperation anywhere in the commonwealth. That says a lot about our responders. I have to hand it to those guys (Mark and Gary). They were incredible and everyone worked well together."Commissioner William O'Gurek also thanked Keller for his dedication to helping Nalesnik and the EMA with getting crews trained, providing information and helping prepare people for incidents like this.Nothstein said incidents like this show how proper training is key to success.Gerhard echoed his colleagues' thoughts, adding that Nalesnik has been busy over the last few weeks, between fires and a suspected bomb-making incident in Summit Hill.