Burn Ban

 Dry conditions are causing three eastern Iowa counties to put burn bans into place. Fire departments in several other counties are warning against open burning.

Dubuque, Winneshiek and Hardin Counties are under burn bans. Dubuque County Emergency Management says it has seen an increase in grass, brush and field fires in the past two weeks.

“Especially {Wednesday} afternoon, fire departments were running all over the county. Multiple fire departments throughout the… it’s just so dry and as windy as it was. People were burning and it got away from them on a couple of situations and it took multiple fire departments to put out the fires,” says Tom Berger with Dubuque County Emergency Management.

The Independence Fire Department says while it isn’t under a burn ban, it has seen an historic amount of field fires, going from zero at this time last year to eight this year. The fire chief says it has also responded to more than a dozen field fires in the county.

“Jackson County Fire Chief, Al Muhlhausen stated .” Jackson County is not under a burn ban as of now  this moisture should help.”