It's Drying time again

The tremendous amounts of rain we got this spring and early summer are gonna come back to haunt us. We have tons of grass. Tall, tall grass. And its drying out fast, and with just the tiniest spark and a little breeze, it can ignite and chew up some acreage quick and in a hurry. And of course, we still have all the red and dead in the hills that is always looming over us.

We are obviously having a later start to fire season than last year, but pretty much on par for the average. Be careful out there.

Open burning (debris burning) is closed, as it always is in July and August,  and possibly into September depending on fire conditions.

Campfires are OK. The difference between debris and campfire wood is that debris floats in the air when its burned. The pine needles and brush are fine and carry easier. Chunks of campfire wood generally burn cleaner and don't put embers up in the air as much, to be carried into the trees and dead grass out of your view.

On the note of campfires- please, please, please make sure your fires are dead out when you leave. Lots of water, stir them up, add more water, and stir it up some more. DON'T BURY THEM. That just causes it to burn slow and pop up possibly days or weeks later when no one is around.

We've had a few slash piles reignite that had been lit months before and had six inches of rain on them. A hot windy day and they are burning again. They can hide for months and ash is naturally water repellent. That's why you have to stir up your campfires real good and get the water down into the bottom.

Traffic

We have had quite a few wrecks lately. Because people are wearing their seatbelts, they have been making out with minor injuries. Please buckle up. And wear your helmet and leathers if you're on the motorcycle. You may be a great rider, but you can't stop a deer from jumping out in front of you at 70 mph. We had one last week that split the deer in half. The guy rolled his bike yet walked away because he was wearing his full leathers, proper footwear, and a DOT approved helmet.

Mother Nature can't be predicted. Be prepared.

Volunteer

As always, we are continually looking for more volunteers.

If you have the heart and the time, please get a hold of one of us or come on down on the first or second Thursday of every month at 6 p.m. at the main hall on Stemple. We are planning on a lot of good things for the fire department and making huge strides in improving our equipment.

The future looks great for us. We can use more volunteers to get on board.

Be safe.