Fire fighters battle several blazes

By TIM UNRUH

Salina Journal

SYLVAN GROVE -- Hulda Ulrich and her son, Malcom, were just sitting down to lunch Thursday when they noticed smoke coming through a window.

"By the time we got out the door, (fire) was coming right in the homestead, right around the buildings," she said. "We got in the pickup and left."

A grass fire that started about a mile away was fanned out of control by strong winds. Firefighters were already battling the blaze, said Hulda Ulrich, 89, but they were unable to save a granary, a washhouse and an old barn.

"There was an excellent fire department there," she said. "They tried to keep the better buildings. They really did a good job."

Her home, three miles northeast of Sylvan Grove, was spared. It was one of two homes threatened by grass fires that day, Lincoln County Sheriff Russ Black said.

"We had a couple of propane tanks blow up," Ulrich said. "The fences all burned down, and the neighbors are out helping put the cattle back in."

Grass fires Thursday made for a hectic day for firefighters from several communities and a difficult week for many.

Black said 750 acres of dry grass burned Thursday, possibly started when an electric transformer shorted out. Fire districts from Lincoln County, Lucas, Waldo, Dorrance, Wilson, Ellsworth and Saline and Mitchell counties responded.

Wednesday, more than 3,000 acres of grass burned, Black said, and during one period, four fires were burning in Lincoln County.

"All of them were controlled burns that got away," he said.

The blazes prompted Lincoln County commissioners to impose a burn ban Wednesday.

At least five grass fires were reported in Saline County this week, said Bryan Armstrong, director of Saline County Emergency Management.

"Most of them were controlled burns that got a little out of control, or a lot out of control," he said.

Controlled burns are a pasture management tool, and they're required on some fields that are enrolled in the federal Conservation Reserve Program, said Tom Maxwell, district agricultural Extension agent from Salina.

There is a "sense of urgency" to burn the fields this month, Maxwell said. Some CRP contracts require that fields be burned prior to April 15, which is the beginning of the nesting period for upland game birds, he said.

The burning is needed for tree, weed and brush control. In pastures, burning off the dry residue encourages native grasses to spread out and thicken up, he said, which will provide more food for livestock.

"It makes it a far better pasture when they get rid of all the stuff that the cattle can't eat," said Scott Abker, chief of Saline County Rural Fire District No. 3, which covers all of western Saline County.

Some of the recent fires were related to controlled burns, he said.

"Most folks who burn their own grass have been doing it a lot of years," he said. "There's been a lot of growth, and the grass is awful tall. There's been a lot more fuel out there."

Rain showers Thursday night may have given firefighters a break Friday, Abker said, "but the way the wind blows ... it won't take long for that grass to dry out enough to ignite."

Saline County Emergency Management allows controlled burns if the wind is blowing at less than 15 mph, Armstrong said. Occasional gusts to 15 mph are allowed. Before lighting the fire, the landowner is required to call Emergency Management, or emergency dispatchers after regular business hours.

"When it's consistently at 15 or above, we will cut it off," Armstrong said.

Conditions can change quickly, he said.

"Things happen. I don't think we've got the problem other counties have had with arson," Armstrong said.

While the burn permit holder is responsible for damage from a fire that spreads out of control, he said, the permit holder is seldom ticketed.

"Most of the time it's just a neighbor's pasture, or several neighbors' pastures, that's gotten burned up," Armstrong said. "Seldom are houses or outbuildings damaged."

n Reporter Tim Unruh can be reached at 822-1419 or by e-mail at tunruh@salina.com.

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Yeah But says....
If they were "controlled burns that got away", then they really weren't "CONTROLLED burns", were they? The "controllers" should pay all damages!
4/11/2009

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