Area firefighters battle field blazes as burning bans, fire warnings take effect

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Area firefighters have been kept busy responding to brush and grass fires that have gotten out of control this past week.

A burning ban, requested by Floyd County Emergency Management Coordinator Jason Webster on behalf of the fire chiefs in Floyd County, has been in effect since Tuesday at noon, issued by the state fire marshal.

“Upon investigation the fire marshal finds that conditions in Floyd County are such that open burning constitutes a danger to life or property,” the proclamation issued Tuesday says.

“It is therefore ordered that no person shall engage in open burning in Floyd County, effective April 11, 2023, at 12 p.m. (noon) except as specifically permitted by Iowa Code … until such time as Jason Webster, representing each fire department having all or part of their fire district within Floyd County, notifies the state fire marshal that such conditions dangerous to life or property no longer exists.”

Violating the proclamation is a simple misdemeanor.

As of Thursday afternoon, 26 counties in the state had burn bans in place, including Floyd County and Butler County. As of Thursday evening none of the burn bans had yet been lifted.

The “Grassland Fire Danger Index” issued by the National Weather Service (NWS) showed “extreme” danger for all of Floyd County through this morning (Friday).

A Fire Weather Watch had been issued by the NWS earlier this week.

“A combination of low humidity values, strong winds and dry fuels will result in critical fire conditions across portions of central, western and northern Iowa,” the watch said.

A “Red Flag Warning” was also in effect into today (Friday), according to the NWS, because of conditions that can contribute to “extreme fire behavior.”

“The unseasonably warm conditions, with breezy southerly winds, lower humidities and dry fuels also persisting, critical to elevated fire conditions, will round out the work week,” the NWS said.

The Floyd County Iowa Emergency Management Agency had issued a statement earlier this week to “get the word out to you all about the dry conditions of our rural areas and burning off grass and CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) land.”

Webster said that area fire departments have been out on calls throughout the weekend and into the week “dealing with intentional, controlled fires that have gotten out of hand.”

The Charles City Fire Department responded to four grass fire and field fire calls on Monday and a couple of more on Tuesday, including Tuesday afternoon after the burn ban had gone into effect. Other fire departments in the county also responded to some of those and other fires.

On Thursday afternoon the Floyd Volunteer Fire Department and Charles City Fire Department were called to the area of Rotary Park near Floyd after a woman reported a fire ring fire had spread beyond the ring and was threatening to spread into the park.