By SARAH CAMPBELL
Leader staff writer
Cabot firefighters put out a grass fire Tuesday, while Jacksonville firefighters have responded to more brush fires this summer than in any summer of his 25-year career, according to Battalion Chief Eddie Hill.
Sherwood and Cabot report a small increase in brush fires. Temperatures for Wednesday, Thursday and early next week are expected to be 100 degrees or hotter.
They’ll drop to the mid-90s on Friday, but will go up to the high-90s during the weekend.
Although there is a 10 percent chance of rain Thursday, a 40 percent chance Friday, a 20 percent chance Saturday and a 10 percent chance Sunday, the precipitation probably won’t be enough to pull central Arkansas out of a nationwide drought.
The area needs between 12 and 15 inches of rain to do that, according weather forecasters.
The Arkansas State Health Department announced the first heat-related death in Arkansas for 2012. There were 17 last year. The age, gender and place of death for the victim are not being released because of the medical privacy law.
Hill said Jacksonville firefighters haven’t made more medical runs than normal because people are being smart about dealing with the weather. The department usually does less than a dozen medical runs each summer.
He said the heat is “harder on everybody. Most people are doing a pretty good job of staying out of the heat, keeping hydrated.”
But, Hill said the dryness is causing more brush fires.
He said Jacksonville has had to battle two at a time this summer.
Most of the blazes have broken out in the area between Jacksonville and South Bend. The brush fires are also larger than they’ve been in the past.
The largest brush fire the department has seen so far occurred behind Southern Oaks Country Club on Foxwood Drive. It burned five to 10 acres, Hill said.
He said a cigarette thrown out of a car window, a hot piece falling from a truck or even a piece of glass lying in the sun could start a blaze right now.
Sherwood Fire Chief David Teague said his department has seen a slight increase in grass fires outside city limits, but Code Enforcement is doing a good job making sure city residents are obeying the burn ban.
“We haven’t seen a very large increase at all. Our people have been behaving, so it hasn’t gone up nearly as much as I thought it would,” Teague said.
He said the fires they have responded to have been harder to fight in the boiling temperatures.
And there have been more 100-degree days than last summer, Teague said.
He said the department has cut back on training and does it inside when it’s too hot.
Teague said, “We don’t wear them out training them. We try to save our energy where we can.”
The firefighters may have to go fight a blaze at any time and he doesn’t want them worn out when that time comes, Teague said.
Teague said he didn’t know if medical runs had increased. Little Rock-based MEMS handles the ambulance service in Sherwood.
Cabot Fire Chief Phil Robinson said his department is training “cautiously.” He said that the Arkansas Fire Training Academy’s policy is to move training indoors if the temperature outside is 100 degrees or more.
Robinson said there has been a slight increase in the number of minor grass fires his department has had to put out.
But he said residents have been conscientious about obeying the burn ban and about dropping their cigarette butts on the ground.
As far as he knows, medical runs haven’t gone up, but Little Rock-based MEMS also handles the ambulance service for Cabot.
Robinson said people who have to work outside should remember to hydrate with water and electrolytes. They should avoid caffeinated beverages like sodas and energy drinks, he said.
Jacksonville code enforcement officer Charles Jenkins said many of the things his department does contribute to fire safety.
Code enforcement looks at electrical systems in houses, how items are stored, abandoned homes and other issues, Jenkins said.
He use a deck made of splintered, dry wood as an example. That deck wouldn’t be up to code and it is a fire hazard.
Jenkins said “transients” using unoccupied buildings could cause a blaze inside them. But that is usually more of a problem in the winter, he said.
Jenkins said he hasn’t issued a citation to any resident for violating the burn ban.
Code enforcement officers also work outside quite a bit, but those who work in his department are carrying water with them, Jenkins said.
“The other day was absolutely miserable,” he said. Jenkins said the sign at a bank said 107 but the heat index felt much higher than that.
