CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) - Brush fires in Massachusetts have become a common sight in the fall. Red Flag Warnings have been active multiple times this month because of the elevated risk. First-generation college celebration at Bay Path University in Longmeadow A Red Flag Warning is an alert for conditions that are unfavorable for prescribed burns and may lead to dangerous wildfire growth. For a warning to be issued there needs to be ten-hour fuels of 8% or less. This is for small vegetation where it will take ten hours to respond to dry/wet conditions or changes in those conditions. It essentially means that this vegetation is holding less than 8% water, so it ignites easier, and spreads quickly. Also, Relative Humidity must be less than 25% for several hours. This depicts how much water is in the air, relative to the temperature of the air. Lastly, there will be sustained winds 20 feet off of the ground of at least 15MPH for several hours. Red Flag Warnings usually occur in the Spring and Fall seasons, between February 15th - April 30th, and October 1st - December 15th. Lt. Tony Spear with the West Springfield Fire Department describes what precautions you should take under these circumstances. "What we want people to do is to stay vigilant as they should year round," explained Lieutenant Tony Spear of the West Springfield Fire Department. "But, particularly right now, if you're going to be discarding smoking materials, if you're going to be burning anything inside in your indoor chimney, make sure it's got something on the top to keep the embers and the ashes from going out." Massachusetts saw over 200 brush fires in the month of October, that's more than 11 times the average for this time of year. Dry vegetation throughout the Pioneer Valley quickly spreads the smallest fires. The dry spell along with breezy conditions through the past couple of weeks make for fires that can consume 100 acres in a weekend. While many of these causes are accidents, they can be easily prevented. "You'll see mulch fires in shopping centers and things like that. Those are always going to be smoking materials and cigarettes, or whatever's being tossed out the window not fully extinguished," added Lt. Spear. "So, yeah it's definitely common and again that's just adding to the situation now." Local News Headlines Elevated brush fire risk continues through early November weekends East Longmeadow honors local veterans with appreciation dinner First-generation college celebration at Bay Path University in Longmeadow Memorial Bridge lamp post removal update WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.