(Milford)– Local fire officials are hoping predictions for rain and snow over the upcoming weekend come true.
They say the fire danger has been steadily increasing the last couple of weeks, and some are hinting at the possibility of another burning ban in Dickinson county if things don’t turn around soon.
The Milford and Arnolds Park/Okoboji fire departments were called to field and grass fires almost simultaneously Wednesday evening. Milford Fire Chief Don Eckard says his department was called to a field fire around 9:00 p.m. about a mile north of the Little Sioux Church. Eckard says a farmer had been burning a ditch earlier in the day, which re-kindled and spread to a nearby field of corn stalks. Eckard says they were able to quickly extinguish the blaze. Firefighters were on the scene about a half hour.
Shortly after that call went out, the Arnolds Park/Okoboji Fire Department was called to a grass fire near Pelican Ridge. Chief Steve Dulin says that fire was burning in a ditch. Dulin says the fire was very small and they were able to snuff it out in about 10 minutes. An investigation is under way into the cause. Dulin says there have been several fires in the same vicinity recently, and he says they’re starting to raise some suspicions.
No structures were threatened in either blaze.
