Outdoor burning is currently strongly discouraged in Lyon County and banned in others this week.
Coffey County and the unincorporated areas of Osage County are in burn bans until further notice. In Osage County’s case, the town of Carbondale is also included.
Chase County, meanwhile is in a burn ban until at least Thursday.
Lyon County is discouraging outdoor burns Tuesday. So is the National Weather Service, which has all area counties and most of the eastern half of Kansas in a fire weather watch from 12-7 pm Tuesday. And so is Kansas Governor Laura Kelly, who issued a verbal state of disaster emergency Sunday — released Monday — for the risk of wildfires Tuesday through Thursday. The declaration lets the state preposition resources in areas of perceived need.
KVOE and KVOE.com will have updates.
3 am Monday: Fire weather watches posted areawide Tuesday
It may be hard to fathom after receiving anywhere from 1.5-4 inches of rainfall this past weekend, but attention is now turning to fire danger — and fire weather watches have already been announced Tuesday afternoon and evening for all area counties.
Southerly winds are expected at 20-30 mph steadily with gusts around 45 mph, while relative humidity levels will be 35 percent maximum and temperatures will be well into the 70s. Fire weather watches are often precursors to red flag warnings, which signal automatic burn bans for area counties.
Emporia Fire Battalion Chief Eron Steinlage says now is the time to make sure there are no fires that could spread Tuesday.
Steinlage says the heavy rainfall from the weekend adds another layer of concern for fire crews.
Stay with KVOE, KVOE.com and KVOE social media for updates.
