Weather conditions set the stage for three-day fire outbreak, firefighters say

Justin Messner/Daily Mail-- Nevada fire crews work vigorously to extinguish the yard fire of a rural Nevada member, Wednesday, March 12, after a brush pile fire jumped to the home owner's lawn and spread rapidly from that property toward neighboring homes. Dispatched to the home of Terrance Gilmore, near the Nevada Country Clubm at approximately 4:35 p.m., firefighters arrived on the scene to find around three acres of land burning along with two storage sheds. Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire without any major property damage.

Vernon County firefighters found themselves in the middle of more than a dozen fire calls between Tuesday and Thursday afternoon -- mostly grass, field and brush fires.

High winds and low humidity are suspected as the biggest cause in the fire outbreaks.

Nevada, Sheldon, Milo, Bronaugh, Deerfield and Walker fire crews were all dispatched multiple times throughout the last several days with reports ranging from calls about controlled burns erupting out of control to a lightning strike in a field that sparked a blaze Thursday.

State Fire Marshall Bruce Thurlo said he does not generally investigate grass fires; however, he believes good judgment should be used when starting a controlled fire. "Folks just need to use common sense. When the wind is blowing people need to not be burning. It can get away from you pretty quick," he said.

Deerfield Fire Chief Bill Smith gave an example of just how dangerous burning in windy conditions can be. "It is too windy to be out burning, we had one guy who had fire jump 75 feet from his brush pile," said Smith.

Eight of the fire reports came in Wednesday, three on Tuesday and only one report Thursday before rain hit the area.

Other fire calls included a false alarm south of Nevada when a water line burst in the attic of a home, resulting in an automatic fire department page from the security monitoring company; and a stove fire at a home on Garfield Street that ignited after someone left a sugar container atop a stove while the burner was heated. The stove fire was extinguished upon the arrival of firefighters and no injuries were reported.