Grass Fires Numbers Could Rise As A Result Of Carelessness
By: Marlisa Goldsmith
Updated: April 20, 2012
This time last year Abilene Fire Department had a recorded number of 22 grass fires, this year, there have only been five.
"We had a pretty wet winter. We had a lot of rain from November through February and into March," says J Sanders of Abilene Fire Department.
Now Abilene is starting to see higher temperatures along with stronger winds, a combination that could make for disaster when carelessness is thrown into the picture.
"Every time I get in my car and I'm driving down the road I usually have one occurrence where i notice someone discarding a cigarette out the window," says Sanders.
Just yesterday a grass fire occurred on Industrial Boulevard near Winters Freeway.
Sanders says, "We're speculating that this grass fire was started by a discarded cigarette out the window."
The land that was burned could have all been prevented, had the smoker discarded their cigarette the proper way.
Sanders continues, "The conditions now, I mean what we're seeing now is even if we get a half an inch of rain, we have two days of heavy winds and really dry and warm conditions and it dries up really fast."
Making it easier for fires like these to start, which is why Abilene Fire Department is urging residents to make smart decisions.
"Use some sense right now when discarding those because we are going to be back in the same situation getting towards the summer months. We're going to have 90-100 degree temperatures, low humidity and high fire danger," says Sanders.
"We had a pretty wet winter. We had a lot of rain from November through February and into March," says J Sanders of Abilene Fire Department.
Now Abilene is starting to see higher temperatures along with stronger winds, a combination that could make for disaster when carelessness is thrown into the picture.
"Every time I get in my car and I'm driving down the road I usually have one occurrence where i notice someone discarding a cigarette out the window," says Sanders.
Just yesterday a grass fire occurred on Industrial Boulevard near Winters Freeway.
Sanders says, "We're speculating that this grass fire was started by a discarded cigarette out the window."
The land that was burned could have all been prevented, had the smoker discarded their cigarette the proper way.
Sanders continues, "The conditions now, I mean what we're seeing now is even if we get a half an inch of rain, we have two days of heavy winds and really dry and warm conditions and it dries up really fast."
Making it easier for fires like these to start, which is why Abilene Fire Department is urging residents to make smart decisions.
"Use some sense right now when discarding those because we are going to be back in the same situation getting towards the summer months. We're going to have 90-100 degree temperatures, low humidity and high fire danger," says Sanders.
