Northwest Iowa — Fire officials are advising that with all this nice weather and the extremely dry winter we’ve had, conditions are right for fire development. And with the winds that are forecast this Friday, fires are even more likely to spread quickly.
Sutherland firefighters put out a grass fire in a waterway and ditch on Tuesday. Assistant Fire Chief Rich Van Beek says someone had a fire going in a burn pit, but put it out because the wind was forecast to pick up. The wind did pick up, as predicted, but the fire was able to rekindle and start nearby grass on fire. The fire then traveled through a waterway and into a road ditch.
Little Rock firefighters also had a grass fire. Theirs was on Thursday and involved a road ditch, according to Little Rock Fire Chief Austin Kannegieter, who also says people need to monitor previous fires and refrain from burning until we get some more moisture.
A very large grass fire was also reported just east of our area in rural Spirit Lake on Thursday.
Orange City Fire Chief Dan Roghair says in these conditions, people should think twice about starting any fires. And even in good conditions, he says people need to remember to call it in when they’re doing any burning. Orange City Fire crews were called to a debris pile fire on Wednesday that was an intentional fire. He says just call the sheriff’s office and tell them you’re going to be doing some burning at such-and-such address. Roghair says they would appreciate that. He encourages people to be safe.
The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office sent out an alert on Thursday advising that strong northwest winds gusting as high as 45+ mph will produce near-critical fire danger this Friday afternoon. They say avoid burning and monitor any previously-lit burn piles.
