The National Weather Service is anticipating extreme fire danger later this week and as such has issued a fire weather watch affecting a portion of the KVOE listening area.
The watch covers Greenwood County from Tuesday morning to Tuesday evening with wind gusts as high as 20 to 30 mph and relative humidity around 19 percent forecasted. With the watch in place, outdoor burning is not banned at this time, however, it is highly discouraged as any fires that develop could be difficult to control and can spread rapidly if they become out of control.
Area fire crews already responded to an out-of-control fire early Sunday afternoon north of Emporia. Emporia, Americus and Allen/Admire fire crews were called to the intersection of Road 300 and J, a little more than 15 miles north of Emporia, for a brush fire just before 1:30 pm.
According to Emporia Battalion Chief Eron Steinlage, the fire began as a controlled burn with the landowners burning around 200 acres of grass. Winds caused the fire to shift and become out of control.
Steinlage says an additional 50 acres were scorched by the time crews got it back under control and cleared the scene almost two hours later. No injuries were reported and no structures were endangered.
