ST. FRANCIS COUNTY, Ark. — This unusually dry weather is creating some very dangerous conditions across the News Channel 3 viewing area.
Low humidity, brisk winds and a drought have turned parts of Arkansas into a tinderbox.
Currently there are 45 Arkansas counties under burn bans, with 37 counties rated at high wildfire danger and the rest of the counties in moderate wildfire danger.
Firefighters are learning firsthand how quickly fires can get out of control.
In St. Francis County, scorched earth and the smoldering remains of a house on County Road 132 show how ripe conditions are for wildfires.
“Wind out of the northwest and the county judge has got a fire ban on,” said J.C. Crisp of the St. Francis County Road Dept. “Not anybody supposed to burn anything. But there’s been several fires set on this road this week during the night.”
Fortunately no one was home when the fire consumed the house, but everyone in the county knows how real the fire threat is.
“Fire can get away in a hurry, and it can move and jump before you know it,” Wheatley Fire Department Chief Ricky Loewer said. “It depends on the wind and the right conditions, and it can get out of control in just a matter of seconds.”
Loewer said his volunteers have already responded to several fires, including the house fire on County Road 132 and a 60-acre grass fire a few days ago.
The fire chief and mayor put the city of Wheatley under a burn ban, in addition to the one imposed for the entire county by Judge Gary Hughes.
Burn bans are enforced by the sheriff or local law enforcement, and violators can be cited by the State Forestry Commission.
Even with the burn ban, it’s common to see farmers “burning off” crop land around Wheatley. While farmers are exempt from burn bans, Loewer said a recent “burn off” got quickly out of control.
“And the embers went 400 yards across a bean field and set a bean field on fire,” Loewer said. “We were fortunate enough that they had a tractor and disc and got it put out real quick.”
Loewer said the best thing people can do is obey the burn ban and pray for some divine intervention with the weather.
“Everybody get on their knees and see if we can get a little rain going,” Loewer said. “That would help a whole lot.”
People who violate the burn ban in St. Francis County can be fined as much as $500. But fines can vary from county to county depending on the judge.
To see what Arkansas counties are under a burn ban, go to www.arkfireinfo.org.
