CAPE COUNTY RESTRICTS BURNING

An outbreak of grass fires and no expectations of rain have led the Cape Girardeau County Commission to restrict burning for at least the next two weeks.

Dry conditions are responsible for at least 10 fires around the county the past week, said Gerald Jones, presiding commissioner.

"And it's going to get worse before it gets better," Jones said.

Firefighters extinguished three more grass fires in the county Monday.

The commission's order asks residents to postpone outdoor burning until fire dangers diminish.

"No field fires shall be set for agricultural purposes, and no wood-lot fires shall be set until the fire dangers decrease," the order reads.

The National Weather Service isn't forecasting rain for the area over the next two weeks, Jones said.

The restriction on burning was requested by Sheriff John Jordan and David Hitt, director of emergency services for the county.

"There were five fives within two hours on Saturday," said Capt. Ruth Ann Dickerson of the sheriff's department. "The firefighters weren't cleared from one scene before they had to go to another."

The fires have occurred in several parts of the county, she said.

In Cape Girardeau, burning permits are being limited and residents are asked to conserve water.

"We are back to the same situation we had in July," said Kevin Priester, Alliance Water resource manager. "We are pumping to capacity and losing a little bit of ground in our storage tanks on a daily basis."

Residents whose addresses end in an odd number are asked to water their lawns on odd-numbered days and those with even-numbered addresses on even-numbered days.

Burning permits are being issued on a case-by-case basis, said Tom Hinkebein, city fire marshal.

"We haven't issued a guideline or an order yet, but we're basically doing the same thing as the county," Hinkebein said.

Leaves and lawn trimmings may be burned without a permit, but Hinkebein asks that residents wait for wet weather.

The burning restriction for the county will be lifted when it rains, Jones said. "What we need now is several good, soaking rains," Hitt said.

Neighboring counties in Southeast Missouri have not experienced the same fire problem.

Scott County commissioners will discuss the drought situation today, said commissioner Walter Bizzell. But ground and pivot irrigation systems on farmland are protecting it so far, he said.

"Cape county is all hills, and we're more flat, so that makes a difference," he said.

Mississippi County also has been spared fires due to its flatter terrain, said Jim Blumenberg, presiding commissioner.

In Perry County, Sheriff Gary Schaff isn't considering asking for burning limits. "We haven't had an unusual amount of fires," he said.