Burn bans are in place for four Iowa counties as a result of the extremely dry weather this fall. Open burning is prohibited in Butler, Webster, Wright and Plymouth Counties. Assistant State Fire Marshal Jeff Quigel says the bans are intended to prevent any widespread wildfires.
“It’s been probably two to four years ago, we saw some people doing some burning of farmland in western Iowa and the fire got away because it was windy and very dry,” Quigel said. “That ended up burning several hundred acres and a couple of houses were lost.” The dry conditions are expected persist, increasing the chance for fires to get out of control.
“We’re going to (need) a few days of rain to get the topsoil moist again,” Quigel said. He expects several more counties will be added to the burn ban list in the next few days.