Nearly every fire department in the Pike County area battled grass fires on Tuesday amid dry weather and high wind advisories issued by the National Weather Service.
Pike County Civil Defense Director Richard Coghlan said some residents may be ignoring the advisories or are simply unaware of them.
“They don’t need to be doing any outside burning,” he said. “As of right now, there is no burn ban in Pike County, but they need to limit their outside burning with these gusts of wind.”
The recent high winds and lack of humidity have created a high risk of grass and woods fires, many of which result from residents starting controlled burns on their properties, Coghlan said.
“Just one spark can get away from them and cause a large woods fire — which they will be responsible for,” he added. “You burn somebody else’s stuff — you’re responsible for it.”
Summit volunteer firefighters responded around 1:30 p.m. Tuesday to a grass fire near 1025 Northwood Drive that quickly spread into a nearby wooded area and burned several acres of land.
“I think it started somewhere around a pile that had been burned maybe a couple days ago (and) rekindled,” Summit Fire Chief Stan McMorris said. “It got back into the woods there about 75 yards.”
Firefighters from the Mississippi Forestry Commission assisted McMorris’ crew, and the team extinguished the blaze in about one hour.
McMorris said there was no significant damage to any structures, but the flames spread to a neighboring property and caused a small amount of damage to the homeowner’s shed.
Firefighters from Fernwood also responded to a grass fire Tuesday that burned the lawns of three homes and damaged an unoccupied mobile home on Keller Lane.
The blaze began at the home of Janice Williams, 1029 Keller Lane, and quickly spread.
Friendship and Progress fire departments assisted and provided a water truck, Fernwood firefighter Daniel Wooley said.
“They were just burning some trash, and the wind got it — way too windy to be burning today,” Fernwood Deputy Fire Chief Lycia Moran said.
Coghlan noted it is against the law to burn anything other than unfinished wood in an outdoor fire. Trash is particularly prohibited, and it is illegal to burn inside city limits without a permit, he said.
Moran said she typically issues first-time warnings to residents who burn trash, but in some cases, she has to notify law enforcement.
Other fire department reports Tuesday included nine grass fires extinguished by firefighters in Kentwood, La., and a bush fire near North Locust Circle put out by Friendship firefighters.
While the weather service’s red-flag warning expired over the weekend and a separate wind advisory expired Tuesday night, authorities are still urging residents to use caution and refrain from starting outdoor fires until winds die down and moisture moves back into the area.
