If the last 72 hours are any indication, people across Butler County need to be reminded that warm, dry and windy conditions mean that extra caution is called for when setting and tending outdoor fires.

Between Friday and press time Sunday night, firefighters had responded to 22 calls for brush or grass fires throughout the county.

Many, if not most, were either controlled by circumstance or through the quick and hard work of volunteer firefighters, who at this point seem literally tireless in their willingness to bring these fires to an end.

Others — like a grass fire Saturday in Middlesex Township that damaged a garage; or a trash fire in Connoquenessing Township that destroyed or damaged multiple campers after spreading through dry grass and leaves — caused varying degrees of havoc before being brought under control.

Even just a few days of relatively dry conditions in early spring can create dangerous conditions for brush fires, according to the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. With no leaves on trees, sunshine can quickly dry out underbrush, fallen leaves and other ground cover.

That’s exactly what the region got starting last week, as temperatures rose into the 60s and 70s and sun and wind washed over Western Pennsylvania.

The weather was a welcome respite from a long winter and a boost to a young spring that has started out cold and wet. But that’s not an invitation for people to suddenly forget how to properly start and tend an outdoor fire, If anything, it should be a reminder that extra caution and care is required.

It takes a lot less time (and money) to prepare and burn properly than it does to bring an uncontrolled wildfire to heel — and Pennsylvania is now in the heart of the most dangerous time of the year for wildfires.