Subscribe
Shop Local
Magazine
Gas Prices
Today's Poll!Mid-Missouri has become a tinderbox
Firefighter Lisa Brinker pulled off some of her bunker gear and poured cold water slowly over her neck in an effort to cool down her body temperature as a large crew of firefighters battled a fire at Propst Auto Service on Industrial Drive. Photo by Julie Smith.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
With the Fourth of July less than a week away, fire officials around Cole County are warning Mid-Missourians about the deadly combination of hot, dry weather conditions and the use of fireworks and outdoor burning.
Steve Cearlock, Cole County Fire Protection District spokesman, said members from all the fire districts in the county, and their chiefs were meeting Wednesday night and planned a public announcement about outdoor burning, fireworks and consequences of fires in these hot, dry conditions.
“We are not really seeing an increase in fires at this time,” he said. “People seem to realize the dry weather makes conditions even worse to do outdoor burning. Nonetheless, we still want to emphasize that due to the heat and dry conditions, the addition of fireworks could make for a deadly combination, not only for humans, but property as well. It hasn’t been this dry since the late ‘60s. And with no rain since the first of the month, there’s a lot of factors we have to look at.”
As of Wednesday, only one Missouri municipality has announced plans to cancel its public firework display on July 4 due to the dry weather.
Online:
Marry Me
Comments
PatsyDecline 11 months, 3 weeks ago
I fear the awful drought that burnt up TX and OK last year has migrated northward. We're not even in July yet and the landscape and forecast isn't looking good at all. And yet my neighbors continue to water their lawn/sidewalks/streets in the afternoon sun.
It would behoove the leaders of JC to consider getting ahead of the upcoming water conservation issues. Alas, they are probably too busy meeting with the out of town architects modeling their downtown convention center.
JCLifer 11 months, 3 weeks ago
Uh, the river is flowing and the wells are producing just fine. There is no water shortage and we do not need the government to save us from some imagined crisis.
tonto_goldberg 11 months, 3 weeks ago
Which is worse? Water rationing or a convention center? We need to choose our battles wisely.
JCLifer 11 months, 3 weeks ago
I don't think we will have water rationing anytime soon. There has been plenty of rain in the upper Missouri watershed. A convention center would be great just don't use my tax dollars to build, maintain, or operate it. We have many more needs for infrastructure, schools, and maintenance and repair of existing facilities.
Littleinvestor 11 months, 3 weeks ago
Check out DNR's well monitoring on line. Some wells have dropped a bit but unless the drought goes on for years, we should be mostly OK in this area of the state. My farming cousins in northwest MO rely on surface water. They are going to be hurting.
2warped757 11 months, 3 weeks ago
Water shortage or not, the lack of rain has caused there to be conditions favorable for fire, and yet I saw a couple of people today smoking in their cars and flicking ashes out the window. Not smart.
Please review our Policies and Procedures before registering or commenting
Or login with:
OpenID