Although the fire districts in Cole County are not implementing a burn ban, the chiefs from those districts are encouraging all county residents to not do any open burning until there is significant rainfall.
The announcement came prior to a natural cover fire near Russellville, keeping crews from two fire protection districts busy Friday afternoon.
Crews from the Russellville-Lohman Fire Protection District and Cole County Fire Protection District battled the fire in the 7900 block of Mount Olive Road, which started around 3:30 p.m.
According to fire officials at the scene, trash was being burned on the property when grass caught fire and eventually burned around 80 acres of land along with a couple dozen large hay bales.
One firefighter was treated for burns, and another twisted his ankle.
Another fire at Heritage Highway and Loesch Road saw 25 hay bales go up in flames after a cigarette was discarded along the road.