Recent rain allows burn ban to be lifted

A burn ban for Adair and Guthrie counties issued just days before was lifted 9 a.m. Thursday, April 20.

Adair and Guthrie County Emergency Management officials said dry conditions around the region, leading to an increase in fire department responses around the two counties, had eased. That was thanks to an exceptional amount of rain the area received in the late night and early morning hours of Wednesday, April 19 and Thursday, April 20, respectively.

A survey by the newspaper of farmers in various places around Adair County yielded consistent reports of rainfall of about 3 inches in an approximately 14-hour period.

Looking ahead in the forecast, there were more chances for rain into this week, which led local fire chiefs to lift the burn ban.

“Adair and Guthrie County fire departments have seen the effects of fires during controlled burns that suddenly became uncontrolled,” said Jeremy Cooper, Deputy EMA Coordinator. “The tragic accident in northern Guthrie County is a prime example of these kind of situations that local fire chiefs were trying to avoid by issuing a burn ban.”

Cooper went on to encourage people to thank their local volunteer firefighters and other first responders for the time they spend away from their families to help their communities and the surrounding rural areas.

“Issuing a burn ban is not taken lightly. It is a hard decision for our departments to make as they understand everyone has work to get done,” Cooper said.

The EMA still encourages landowners to notify their local fire department before even lighting a controlled burn. Landowners are asked to provide fire departments with the location of their burn, a time and date so as to reduce false alarms for volunteers.

The State Fire Marshal’s website contains the latest information on burn bans across Iowa.

The crop and conditions report issued April 17 said that 7% of Iowa’s expected corn crop had been planted as of then, almost two weeks ahead of last year and almost a week ahead of the five-year average. Cooler temperatures and the recent moisture were expected to keep farmers out of the field for some time into this week.

The Iowa Drought Monitor still shows Iowa’s most significant drought conditions are in northwest Iowa near and north of Sioux City.