NWA, River Valley counties issue burn bans due to dry, windy conditions
ROGERS, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — Multiple counties in Northwest Arkansas and the River Valley are under a burn ban.
According to the Arkansas Forestry Division, Crawford County, Sebastian County, Franklin County, Johnson County, Madison County and Carroll County are all under judge-appointed burn bans. Benton County is also under a burn ban issued by its fire marshall which was extended by 24 hours Tuesday morning.
According to the Rogers Fire Department, if the wind has a speed of 10 mph or higher, it’s too dangerous to burn.
“When it is also dead and dry, that’s extremely flammable. And then, it moves just as fast as the wind is blowing,” said Rogers Battalion Chief Clint Bowen.
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Bowen says everyone must follow the rules during burn bans.
“We issue burn bans because conditions like this, somewhere in the past has provided a situation that got out of control,” said Bowen.
He also says if a fire does get out of control, it takes time for firefighters to arrive.
“Our dispatch has to receive the call and dispatch us. Now we have to drive to you, so now you have all of that time factored in too. And obviously, this can be a pretty bad situation,” said Bowen.
Bowen says fire departments in Rogers and Springdale have been busy recently. He says Springdale was using nearly all of its resources dealing with bushfires only a couple of days ago.
“Everybody around them was on standby waiting if they needed anything else it was going to have to be provided outside of their city,” said Bowen.
A total of 25 counties have issued burn bans.
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