BENTONVILLE — Area firefighters don’t chill out with the arrival of winter.

The persistent drought conditions that have afflicted Northwest Arkansas raise the prospect for a busy winter fire season, according to Benton County Fire Marshal Marc Trollinger.

“I’ve already had five fires I’ve gone out on that were related to heating sources, whether it was flue fires, fireplace fires or space heaters,” he said.

George Stowe-Rains with the Arkansas Forestry Commission said the area’s drought conditions are unlikely to abate this winter, meaning the region will face a higher risk of fires than usual.

“Normally, our fire season begins after leaf cast, in the latter part of November,” Stowe-Rains said. “It continues on into April when things start greening up and we generally get out of fire season in May.”

Current conditions are such that unless the area receives an inch or more of rain every week through the winter, fire hazards will persist.

“We’re already at 15 inches of deficit,” he said of the state’s rainfall total for the year. “We’re in an extreme drought already so it’ll be super-extreme.”

The long-range forecast doesn’t provide much hope of relief for firefighters. The U.S. seasonal drought outlook for Nov. 1 through Jan. 31, 2013, shows Northwest Arkansas in an area covering much of the western half of the country where drought is expected to persist or intensify. Ed Calianese, a warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tulsa, Okla., said the winter could be challenging.

“Northwest Arkansas remains in severe to extreme drought with little improvement expected through this winter,” Calianese wrote in an email.

He noted dry grasses and other vegetation catch fire more easily and spread fire more quickly. He also said winter often means more wind as a result of passing weather systems.

“There easily could be a lot of fire issues this winter,” he said.

The winter fire season poses problems for city firefighters, not just those in rural areas, said Chief Tom Jenkins of the Rogers Fire Department.

“We probably have a greater incidence of preventable fires,” Jenkins said. “Thanksgiving Day is always the top day for kitchen fires. We also see more alternative heating source fires. There’s also an increased danger of carbon monoxide in homes. We just have to get the word out to the public to educate them.”

Jenkins said, even in the cities, outdoor fires can be a problem during the winter season. He said burning in Rogers requires a permit. Handling a controlled burn calls for a great deal of caution.

“Winter is always a difficult time for us,” Jenkins said. “The vegetation is dormant and it tends to be dry. Just because it’s cold outside people tend to correlate the temperature with fire risk. They think if it’s cold outside there’s less risk and that’s not the case. Even though it may be cold outside fire can spread quickly.”

Stowe-Rains said there are always things that can cause fires. He pointed to automobiles and power lines rubbing against tree limbs in a high wind as two common causes of fires. Most fires, however, are the result of careless people, he said.

“The most important thing is knowledge,” he said. “Most of the fires we’ve been on so far this year have been because of stupidity.”

“We need 17 or 18 inches of rain,” he said. “We need a dew every morning and good humidity. A good rain on a Monday gets us through Wednesday right now, then we need another inch of rain because you don’t have the soil moisture. We’re not going to get out of this fiery pattern for