MULTIPLE GRASS FIRES IN WASHINGTON COUNTY TUESDAY

Mark Whitehead Send an email January 31, 2018
7 196
  

Multiple grass fire were reported Tuesday in Washington County.

At 2:00 yesterday afternoon a grass fire was reported in the 2100 block of Boehnemann Road, south of Burton.  Volunteers from the Burton, Berlin, and Latium Fire Departments fought the fire until 10:00 PM Tuesday night.  The fire destroyed 70 round bales of hay.  Nearby structures were also threatened by the fire.

At 3:30 Tuesday afternoon, the Chappell Hill Volunteer Fire Department responded to a grass fire in the 6800 block of Gibb Creek Road, south of Chappell Hill.  Firemen fought the fire for over an hour.  1 ½ acres were reported burned in the fire.

Firemen report that the recent hard freeze has killed all of the grass and vegetation, and the low humidity and strong winds have led to the large number of grass fires.  Complicating matters, recent rains have made pastures too soft for the larger fire trucks to cross, leading to stuck vehicles, and having to fight the fires with ATVs and on foot.

Volunteer firemen work late into the night Tuesday extinguishing the round bales near Burton. Photo courtesy of Burton VFD.
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Mark Whitehead Send an email January 31, 2018
7 196

7 Comments

  2. In my opinion based on an analysis of grass fires over a period of five years in Washington county, burn bans have little to no effect on the occurrence of wildfires in pastures. Most wildfires are caused by so-called “controlled burns” (usually brush piles and not to be confused with prescribed burns) that are unattended without proper safeguards (such as firebreaks), often started early in the day. As the wind picks up in the afternoon, when no one is around, embers from the fire escape to the surrounding grass and the fire is off an running. No one is there to put it out immediately and there are often minimal or no firebreaks around the brush pile to contain the fire. The folks that do this are usually not going to pay attention to a burn ban, assuming they even know that there is one. Furthermore, the only consequence of their mistake is often just the embarrassment of having the fire department to come out and put the fire out. Perhaps a stiff fine and their names in the paper along with a preliminary report on the suspected cause of the fire would help inform others on the risks and the penalties for careless behavior.

  4. Why is it a act of Congress every we need a burn ban??? Then finally it gets done and we don’t need it at that time, why?

      1. We don’t have sense to put our seat belts on and wear a helmet on a 100 mph motor bike, we surely are not going to leave caution to the wind. Lol

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