This is Wildfire Awareness Week, and local firefighters are urging anybody thinking of a controlled burn this year to take all the necessary precautions.
Emporia Fire Battalion Chief Rich Gould stresses safety with the grass fire season getting started.
The last several winters have been dry, so fire crews already had several grass fire calls under their belts by this time. This winter, however, has been wet, with close to 18 inches of snow and better than 2 inches of rainfall. That provides some benefits for both residents and firefighters, although it changes the hazards list for fire crews to some extent.
Wet conditions also make it almost impossible for fire crews to have much mobility due to mud, so crews would have to surround the fire and let it come to them as opposed to going into a field and actively confronting it.
Lyon County is in the second year of its two-year burn permit cycle. Permits are free but needed for any county residents wanting to conduct a controlled burn. Those are available at the Courthouse, Law Enforcement Center and city clerk’s offices across the county.
Lyon County will also suspend all burn permits and enact short-term burn bans whenever the National Weather Service issues red flag warnings for the county.
