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Out-of-control controlled burns at steady pace
The start of spring usually brings with it the start of another season of fighting grass fires for area rural fire departments.
Dry, windy conditions of late have led to a rash of grass fires that started as controlled burns by property owners to burn sections of grassland or pasture land and then got out of control, burning additional acres and sometimes structures and other property. Bourbon County District No. 3 Chief Delwin Mumbower said since March 11, District No. 3 firefighters have responded to more than 30 grass fires "that got out of control."
Mumbower said firefighters responded to 27 calls between Wednesday and Saturday, and seven grass fires on Sunday. One of the fires was due to the burning of trash.
"This is the first week of at least a month of real grass fires," he said. "It doesn't stop until it (grass) starts turning green."
Mumbower said so far, it's been a typical year for District No. 3, with the number of grass fires under what firefighters had dealt with by this time last year. But that doesn't mean those fires haven't produced damages across the county.
"It's been more typical for us," he said. "Last year was exceptional. Last year about this time, we had spent about 50 percent of last year's fuel budget. It's not quite as bad as last year. But there have been some significant losses due to those fires."
During this recent spate of grass fires, Mumbower said about 70 large bales of hay have been lost, two barns were damaged, one barn burned down and some oil tanks melted resulting in "hundreds of thousands of dollars in property lost." Through Saturday, there has been a total of about 1,000 acres of land outside the area of the prescribed burns lost to fire, "unintentionally burned," he said.
On Thursday night, Bourbon County emergency personnel and rural firefighters battled an out-of-control grass fire that broke out in an area just south of 135th Street and Soldier Road. That blaze melted three oil tanks containing hundreds of gallons of oil and took firefighters a few hours to extinguish. Firefighters had to use foam and water on that fire. It nearly reached another nearby oil tank and a natural gas pipeline but they were untouched.
Emergency officials have said they are not sure exactly how many acres burned in that fire. Among rural fire agencies that responded were District No. 3, Scott Township and Hiattville rural fire department.
District No. 5 Scott Township Chief Eric McKay said his department has battled at least six grass fires within the last week, and possibly more. He didn't have exact figures because reports on some of the fires hadn't been completed yet.
"We had six grass fires that burned approximately 360 acres," he said. "There were no structures in these fires; just fields."
McKay said firefighters dealt with two grass fires each day on March 11 and Thursday that hit "one right after another." They also fought one grass fire on Monday and one over the weekend, he said.
McKay said one or two of the fires were fairly large, "probably 20 acres on a couple of them." Scott Township firefighters assisted Thursday with the oil tank fire which McKay said was one of the larger fires of the week.
"We had no problems with personnel or equipment at any fire," he said. "We were lucky."
McKay said rural fire departments help each other when assistance is needed, whether it be personnel or equipment.
"They call us when they need us. We call them when we need them," he said. "It's pretty common that we call each other. And we get along great, so it's a good thing. Sometimes they may need a tanker or something."
District No. 5 has about 30 volunteer firefighters on its roster, as well as two engines, two tankers, two brush trucks, and a four-wheel drive vehicle for use "when it's too muddy for trucks," McKay said.
Firefighters have thus far been able to manage all of the recent grass fires and get them under control, but sometimes the number of calls that come in takes its toll on personnel and equipment, Mumbower said.
"The biggest issue is when we're out on three or four and we get a call for another one," he said. "It wears you a little thin."
Mumbower said firefighters "got through (the week) real well" with "no real equipment problems."
"Just the normal wear and tear," he said. "All of our trucks are still in service."
Mumbower offered some safety tips for property owners who plan to conduct prescribed burns, in order to potentially keep fires from burning out of control.
"Check the weather often and see what the future weather is going to be," he said. "If it will be burning for a few hours, they need to know what the weather will be doing until the fire is out. Most importantly, if it's a controlled burn, you've got to have the means with you to control it ... to me, a controlled burn means you have the ability to put it out. You don't see that very often here."
Mumbower said contacting county officials or the dispatch center prior to a prescribed burn is a good idea as they "can tell if they don't have anyone available" to monitor or respond to a fire.
"That's a good time for dispatchers to tell them what's going on," he said. "And they don't have to burn today. There's always tomorrow."
Bourbon County Emergency Manager Will Wallis has said he strongly recommends that property owners notify emergency personnel before moving forward with a controlled burn.
Mumbower said he and other emergency officials are in the process of trying to help educate landowners about the proper process for prescribed burns.
"We've tried to get with landowners to educate people," he said. "I understand they have to burn. I'm not sure they need to burn when they do."
Mumbower said District No. 3 encompasses 505 square miles of Bourbon County and includes six fire stations - Hiattville, Bronson, Uniontown, Mapleton, Devon and Fulton. The department consists of 36 volunteer firefighters and a total of 20 trucks - tankers, pumpers and brush trucks - at those six stations.
Attempts to reach representatives of District No. 2 Garland and District No. 4 Redfield fire departments for comment and fire statistics were unsuccessful.