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Jul. 5, 2012 Source: Kansas State University news release Kansas will be under high to very high rangeland fire danger. "We lost several thousand acres to wildfire over the past week in northwest and north central Kansas. Careless use of fireworks now could easily translate into huge new fires anywhere in the state," said Jason Hartman, fire protection specialist with the Kansas Forest Service. Hartman has just returned from helping fight the enormous forest fires in Colorado, which already have made that state's wildfire season the worst on record. Like Kansas, Colorado has been through a long stretch of unusually dry and unusually warm weather. "Unfortunately, heat- and drought-stressed plants attract damaging and even killing pests. Plus, Americans haven't been doing as many prescriptive burns as we used to, to limit the amount of fuel available for wildfires. Combined with people's urge to keep moving further out into the urban-rural interface, that's come close to a perfect recipe for disaster," he said. As defined by the National Weather Service office in Topeka, the difference between a high and a very high fire index rating come down to two things: * Whether wildfires are likely ... or, they're likely to start easily from almost any cause. * Whether windy conditions could make them difficult to control ... or, the addition of their expected spreading speed and flame intensity will make them very difficult to control. "The only reasons Kansas isn't under a Red Flag Warning right now are that our wind speed probably won't exceed 20-25 mph, and our relative humidity should be above 20-25 percent," Hartman said. "Our maximum afternoon temperatures already qualify, as does the dryness of our plant life. "That's enough to make me wish everyone would leave this year's fireworks to the professionals - perhaps watching a celebration televised from somewhere that isn't so hot and dry." K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus in Manhattan. Tweet |
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