Four brush fires in Crittenden County Wednesday kept volunteers out past dark to extinguish the flames, and at least one resident will be paying for the cost to put out one of those blazes. Shannon Travis of Coy Watson Road in the Sheridan community will likely face a sizable bill as a result of a debris pile that quickly got out of control Wednesday evening, burning several acres, threatening woodlands, at least one home and several horses in a nearby field. Don Lam, a Kentucky Division of Forestry officer, said Travis will be charged the cost to suppress the 40-acre brush fire.
The final cost could be pretty sizable, too, Lam said. Four volunteer fire departments – Tolu, Salem, Mattoon and Crittenden – responded, as well as Forestry. Forestry also dispatched a dozer to create a fire line between brush and woodlands threatened by the fast-moving flames fanned by high winds.
Lam, whose voice was hoarse Thursday morning from a long day of fighting fires in the wind and cool temperatures the day before, reminds Kentucky residents that it remains illegal to burn anything outdoors during the daytime. Kentucky's spring forest fire hazard season prohibits burning between 6 a.m., and 6 p.m., until April 30.
No one was injured and no structures were damaged in any of Wednesday's fires in Crittenden County. Also, neither Travis nor any of the other fire-setters will face criminal charges, Lam said.
