The annual burn season has been busy with activity truly ramping up just over the past week.
According to Lyon County Emergency Management Director Jarrod Fell, the county saw right around 100 active burns just over the past three days with a “significantly higher” number of burns reported over the past seven. Fell says the high activity has led to numerous grass fire calls over the past several days with the largest amount of activity being centralized in north and south Lyon County.
When it comes to handling the grass fire activity Fell says the rural fire departments work well together and have “auto-aid” agreements in place with one another to ensure there is more than enough personnel on hand to assist in quelling the flames.
When it comes to out-of-control burns, Fell tells KVOE News there are several factors that can cause farmers and ranchers to lose control of a burn. He says being under-equipped to maintain smaller parcel fires is one of the major causes.
Another obvious cause is mother nature as Fell says wind shifts can occur at any time causing fires to go from controlled to out of control rapidly. Speaking of the weather, the listening area has seen several days with high to critical fire danger in recent weeks and Fell says for the most part residents have done well in adhering to any burn bans or red flag warnings that have been issued in that time.
Back in late 2021, the county switched its burn reporting procedures to an online format which has allowed for greater tracking of fire activity and quicker response by fire crews in the event of an out-of-control burn. Fell says county residents appear to have embraced the new process as the online system has seen a high level of use since its inception.
Those wishing to report a burn virtually can do so by going online to lyoncounty911.org and finding the burn procedure tab under the services menu. Residents can also report burns by visiting Lyoncounty.org.
Those who may not have access to the internet can still call Lyon County Emergency Communications at 620-343-4225 to report their burns. They will have to call at the start and the end of the burn activity.
