Wildfire Prevention

2021 Wildfire Awareness Week

Preventing Wildfires

In 2015, Kansas fire departments responded to nearly 6,000 vegetation-related fires that resulted in 21 reported injuries, and $4.9 million in property loss and damages.

According to fire officials, nearly ninety-five percent of all wildfires result from the activity of people and, subsequently, a significant number could be prevented through taking proper actions towards fire safety.

Prevention Tips

The Office of the State Fire Marshal and Kansas Interagency Wildfire Council offer the following tips and best practices for helping farmers and ranchers to have safe and successful prescribed burns of their fields and pastures, ensuring a burn doesn’t become a wildfire:

Know all state and local fire restrictions. Check with county officials who are charged with deciding whether burning is permissible based on local conditions.
Notify neighbors as a courtesy prior to burning.
Postpone the burn if unsure of the fuel and weather conditions.
Check the weather forecast, not just for the day you will be burning, but for a couple days afterward as well to avoid “holdover” escapes from burns that were completed and forgotten about a day or more prior.
Have adequate resources and equipment available to prevent escaped fires.
Consider smoke management to avoid unsafe roads and air quality conditions.
Do not burn to the ends of the field. Setting boundaries, “back burning” and keeping the fire off of fence rows will prevent out-of-control burns.