If forestry officials and firefighters could control the weather, the forecast would be calling for rain and high humidity.

A lingering drought that has kept Cherokee County and much of the Upstate under a "severe drought" label is lengthening the traditional wildfire season, not only keeping firefighters across the Upstate busy but also straining some departmental resources and budgets.

Traditional wildfire season generally falls between late winter and early spring. While it was unclear if any records are being established this year, some officials say they are seeing more wildfires than normal heading into summer. They're attributing the fires to a lack of rain and low humidity.

"When the relative humidity is low, it robs the dead and living vegetable material on the ground, making it more combustible," said Scott Hawkins of the state Forestry Commission.

Combine these weather conditions with summer activities such as debris burning, fireworks and campfires and it's easy to understand why extra caution is being advocated.

From February through May, the state Forestry Commission responded to 1,371 fires that burned 10,225 acres in South Carolina. Nine of those fires occurred in Cherokee County, burning 13.2 acres. The data doesn't include all the brush and grass fires that break out daily.

The Antioch Volunteer Fire Department, for instance, has been responding to at least one or two brush or grass fires a week as of late. Fire Chief Glenn Gregory said the volume of brush and grass fire calls has doubled since last year.

"The water level in the ground is nonexistent," he said. "(The vegetation) is just brittle."

Since Wednesday afternoon, Antioch's firefighters have twice had to respond to a grass fire on the same East Cherokee Street farm where about six acres burned. The fire started when a bearing on a hay baler overheated. Firefighters had to return to the scene Thursday because the hay bales that had caught fire Wednesday continued to flare up. "It's kind of impossible to put them out as dry as it is," Gregory said.

Even fire departments that don't have as much forest land or fields as more rural districts are feeling the impacts. "We're running a lot of mutual aid for other departments," said Blacksburg Fire Chief Clay Greer. "It's been like this all yearround because we haven't had any rain."

Blacksburg has one brush truck for firefighting and is in the process of getting a second brush truck ready for use.

"Knock on wood, we've been lucky," said Cherokee Creek Fire Chief Reggie Petty. The volume of calls in his district haven't been too far out of the norm but he knows that can change. "We worry about it because it's so dry," he said.

"So far, for us, it's been about normal," said CKC Fire Department Chief "Stick" Manning. "(But) I look for it to get worse if we don't get any rain."

The biggest cause of wildfires is debris burning that gets out of control, Hawkins said, as that accounts for about 40 percent of all wildfires.

With conditions so dry, however, it doesn't take much for anything to spark a fire. Gregory said his department responded to an incident just two weeks ago in which a man's lawn mower struck a rock. "A spark flew off the lawn mower and set the field on fire," Gregory said. Earlier this week, a brush fire off Interstate 85 likely started because of a discarded cigarette.

There currently are no burning bans in effect, but that doesn't mean people shouldn't use caution. The Forestry Commission puts out advisories on weather conditions. A "red flag" advisory means any kind of burning can get out of control.

"If you're going to do outdoor burning, make sure you have a wildfire break," Hawkins said.

There should be at least several feet of bare ground around a fire, and Hawkins said you should also be prepared with a good water supply.

Unless things change, however, Chief Gregory believes current weather conditions are a recipe for disaster. With the Fourth of July on the immediate horizon, Gregory said, "People need to be extremely cautious with fireworks this year."