HUMBOLDT — Hot, dry weather continues to keep area firefighters in action.
One day after a large grass and cornfield fire burned off hundreds of acres near Savonburg, a fire southeast of Humboldt forced officers to close the northbound lane of U.S. 169 for a spell.
“We had a lot of trucks coming into and out of the field, and we didn’t want to make it any more hazardous for them than it already was,” Undersheriff Bryan Murphy said.
The fire burned between the highway and California Road. The flames reached as close as the shoulder of 169, but were quickly doused to prevent them from spreading.
There were no injuries, but the Elsmore-Savonburg Volunteer Fire Department lost a truck in the process.
Murphy said the truck apparently blew its engine while firefighters battled the blaze.
“They were spraying water on it because it got so hot and there was a lot of corn stubble,” Murphy said.
The fire was the second of the day. Another grass fire was reported northwest of Iola Tuesday morning.
THE COUNTY has an ongoing burn ban, effective for more than a month now, because of the relentless heat and lack of rainfall.
Pasture grass has grown dormant, while cornfields remain dry as a bone. Soybeans also are showing signs of distress.
Forecasts call for a 40 percent chance of thunderstorms today and tonight, with high temperatures near 90 expected through the weekend. Another slight chance of rain is forecast Sunday.
