Kenosha County burn ban, drought means high fire risk
KENOSHA, Wis. - The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources warns that the risk of fire is high due to dry conditions. Firefighters worked to put out a grass fire in Kenosha Tuesday, June 15.
"We haven’t had any rain in the past four weeks," said Guy Santelli, Kenosha Fire Department.
The Kenosha Fire Department is gearing up for what could be a busy couple of weeks.
"We’re making sure that our guys stay hydrated, making sure that they stay out of the sun," said Santelli.
Grass primed to spread fire did exactly that Tuesday in Kenosha.
"That was a small one," said Santelli. "They have it under control already, but that is an open field area that could have got out of control extremely fast."
Fire officials do not know how the fire started, but it spread quickly on the dry, yellow grass, coming only yards away from a We Energies substation. Crews came to make sure there was no damage done, and fortunately, there was not.
Another grass fire happened in Salem Monday night, fire officials said. The risk right now is high across our area according to the FOX6 Weather Experts; higher the further south you go.
A burn ban is in effect for Kenosha County until further notice with little rain expected in the coming weeks.
"This is not only for the city of Kenosha," said Santelli. "This is for the entire Kenosha County. We won’t be having any types of recreational fires. No more fire pits. No more campfires at campgrounds, anything like that."
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Santelli also asks you to hold off on fireworks, which are illegal in the city.
"Please don’t do them," said Santelli. "Even sparklers are dangerous right now because of the dryness."
"I’m just doing some basic lawn work, trying to clean up some stuff so I can try to maintain my grass which isn’t really doing all that great," said Marty Williams.
Neighborhood yards are parched and more than ready for some rain.
"Unfortunately the two-week forecast isn’t looking too good for rain, so hopefully, we’ll just get through it," said Williams. "Water what you can. Let your stuff survive the best way you can, and we’ll get through it."