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Crews Battling Fires, Wind in Southeastern Kentucky

Kentucky Division of Forestry

High temperatures and winds are complicating efforts at fighting ongoing wildfires across Kentucky but a weekend forecast of rain could provide some relief.

Kentucky Emergency Management’s Buddy Rogers said Friday that 54 fires are actively burning on 28,000 acres. More than half of those are on federal forest land. 

Southeastern Kentucky residents should keep an ear tuned for any alerts.  Rogers said people should “closely monitor their local media, weather alert radios, certainly their smart phones.” 

There are currently 93 counties with all-out burn bans. Rogers said windy conditions could simply add more fuel this weekend. 

“There’s a lot of leaves still on the trees,” he said. “This wind event actually could push more fuel down to the ground and reignite fires that are inactive and just fuel the active fires.”

While only light rain is anticipated this weekend, Rogers said more rain is possible next week.

Stu Johnson is a reporter/producer at WEKU in Lexington, Kentucky.
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