(WENY) -- DEC recently announced that prescribed fire season is back up and that means that a statewide burn ban for non-DEC entities remains in effect.

Prescribed fires help with eliminating excess fuels that can build on the forest floor while also reducing the overall chances of forest fires forming and intensifying.

In order for a controlled burn to be initiated, certain weather conditions like the correct wind direction and relative humidity must be met in order to safely initiate the fire. DEC plans to have two controlled fires in Steuben County when the conditions are met.

Fire crews can range from 15 to 40 people, each pivotal in ensuring that the control burn is executed safely and in a timely manner.

"Here in our region, we do it mostly for habitat improvement. Other regions of the state might do it for fuel reduction. But for us, most of our burns are in grasslands, so it'd be a habitat improvement. And we're just using natural fire or prescribed fire on the landscape to help invigorate those grasses and those shrubs that we're looking for," DEC Assistant Fire Management Officer Timothy Carpenter said.

There are two control burn locations in Steuben County, the Canisteo River Basin and the West Hill State Forest. The Coon Hollow State Forest in Schuyler County is also planned to have a prescribed burn.