Northwest Iowa — Several grass and field fires have been reported in the past few days, and firefighters are warning people to be careful, and not to burn stuff for the next few days.
For instance, the Orange City Fire Department was called out to a field fire at 3720 480th Street on Sunday. Fire Chief Denny Vanderwel says someone had been burning old trees, and the fire got out of control and burned two to three acres of field. He says they and the Alton firefighters were able to put out the fire mostly by turrets from their tankers and reel lines and were clear from the scene in just under an hour. He says they were lucky the wind wasn’t blowing at 30 miles per hour or it could have been much worse.
Firefighters say people may be anxious to clear the dry brush from their properties and get on with spring, but they’re warned not to set any fires at this time. Outdoor burning is not recommended. They tell us weather conditions are ideal for small brushfires to quickly get out of hand and spread and residents are urged to heed the advisory.
The weather forecast for the next few days calls for much warmer temps, which will dry already dry vegetation even more. Low humidity and breezy conditions will make the situation even worse. Van Holland says this may all get better soon if we get precip or if farmers are able to do some spring field work. But he says with the dry stuff on the top, fires will spread easily.
