Philadelphia ? With drought parching the East Coast from Maine to Georgia, brush fires are breaking out in woods that normally would just be thawing out from winter, and some areas are banning outdoor burning in anticipation of a bone-dry spring.

Firefighters have already battled blazes in New Jersey, Virginia and areas of the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania that are normally streaming with melting snow this time of year.

“We’ve had no spring thaw, because there’s nothing to melt,” said Roger Maltby, emergency services director for Pike County, about 100 miles north of Philadelphia. County commissioners voted this week to ban outdoor burning starting March 15.

“Generally our brush fire season starts at the end of March and runs through the beginning or middle of May. Normally there is snow on the ground in February,” Maltby said.

But this year fires have already scorched area woodlands, including one blaze in late February that spread near several homes.

Paul Head, of the National Park Service in Boston, said fires in Virginia and New Jersey also signal an early fire season.

“It’s probably about four weeks earlier than usual,” said Head, whose office coordinates firefighting for the region. “Basically, the Northeast has been in about a three-year drought.”

A blaze burned for nearly a week and charred about 4,200 acres in Shenandoah National Park, in Virginia, before it was finally contained last Saturday. On Thursday, firefighters chased brush fires in southwest Virginia, apparently started by sparks from a passing train. The fires scorched acres of woodland in Bedford County but were stopped short of any homes.

New Jersey has had several brush fires, including a large blaze Thursday in the Meadowlands battled by firefighters from several towns. The New Jersey Turnpike’s eastern spur and Route 508 through Kearny were closed and traffic was detoured for more than an hour as high winds fanned flames and dense smoke toward the highways.

The U.S. Drought Monitor, a service provided by the National Weather Service, Department of Agriculture and other agencies, rates drought conditions as severe to extreme from Maine to Georgia.

New Jersey has declared a statewide drought emergency, parts of Pennsylvania have been under drought emergency declarations since last month, and a warning was issued Tuesday in Delaware. With 18 Maryland counties under watches and warnings, Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening said he is preparing to declare a drought emergency for parts of the state after one of the driest winters on record.

Rain could still ease the fire threat. “One good nor’easter-type storm coming up the coast could give us quite a bit of relief,” Head said. But if that doesn’t happen soon, “we may do pre-positioning of attack resources.”

Firefighting tanker planes and bucket-equipped helicopters could be stationed at strategic locations such as Manchester, N.H., for use in New England, and at Shenandoah National Park, for use in the mid-Atlantic states, he said.

In Pennsylvania, the outdoor burning ban in Pike County will prohibit any fires, in barrels or on the ground, and carry fines up to $100. Berks, Chester, Cumberland and York counties also have imposed outdoor burning restrictions, said Terry Brady, a spokesman for the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

Pennsylvania fires haven’t scorched enough land yet for the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to begin tallying the acreage. “It’s just starting,” Brady warned.