Planning a controlled burn Sunday? You’d best hold off.
The Kansas Grassland Fire Danger Index is in the extreme category for several area counties — Lyon, Chase, Greenwood and Morris for Sunday. It’s very high for Coffey, Osage and Wabaunsee counties.
This is separate from the National Weather Service’s red flag warnings for the same combination of weather factors driving Sunday’s fire danger: hot conditions with highs in the 90s, coupled with wind gusts as high as 35 mph and relative humidity levels no higher than 25 percent. However, no area counties are currently in a red flag warning — which would signal automatic burn bans for Lyon and most surrounding counties — because fuels aren’t officially dry enough after coordination with the Kansas Forest Service.
The Weather Service says outdoor burning is discouraged, even though there are no red flag warnings at this time, and with a number of controlled burns already conducted the past few days, landowners are urged to check to make sure they don’t rekindle.
Given the wind conditions, outdoor burns will not be allowed in the Emporia city limits with winds above 15 mph.
We’ll keep you updated on KVOE, KVOE.com and KVOE social media.
