Firefighters urge caution

WINSTON COUNTY -  Firefighters are sending out strong warnings that brush fires are posing a major danger currently, keeping firefighters tied up by responding.
Cooler weather and lower humidity levels are expected later this week, which will continue the threat of fires, stressed Casey Hammack, specialist with the Alabama Forestry Commission.
“It’s still pretty dry right now.  We have not had a significant amount of rain,” Hammack said Monday.
Although Winston County has not been placed under an advisory or alert due to the dangers, people are still urged to be cautious about burning, Hammack stated.
“Know what your surroundings are like,” he said. “If you are going to do some yard burning, brush burning or anything like that, have a fire break around what you are burning.”
This fire break, Hammack explained, would be some good soil that would prevent the fire from spreading.
Fires have posed such a situation to local and area fire departments this past weekend that the AFC was called out to provide machinery in order to create a fire break at two locations in Winston County, Hammack said.
“I worked both Saturday and Sunday this past weekend,” said Hammack. 
The AFC was called to provide a fire line in an area burning about an acre near Magnolia Drive in the Helicon area, where fires have resulted in numerous rekindles over the past several days, fire officials stated.
The AFC was also called to provide a fire  barrier in Double Springs, after lightning sparked a fire in a pine area that ended up burning 30 acres, Hammack continued.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor report dated September 18, the majority of Winston County has been abnormally dry, with the Lynn area listed in the moderate drought category.  Drought is not  drastically affecting the northern part of Winston County in the Bankhead National Forest, the Drought Monitor report further indicated.
The Helicon Fire Department responded to a grass fire, burning about an acre, possibly ignited by a cigarette, off County Road 22 last week,  Helicon Fire Chief Greg Ackley said.
However, their major call, which has kept firefighters returning over several days, has been on Magnolia Drive near Smith Lake off County Road 106, where fire departments have responded six-eight times on rekindles,  calling for assistance from Arley and Crane Hill fire departments, noted Ackley.
“(The fire) was on a bluff that headed down to the lake,” Ackley emphasized. “It was impossible to walk it because of steep terrain.
“I was watching embers come up over my head and land.  Each ember that landed on the ground started another fire,” Ackley pointed out. “That tells you the extreme dryness.”
As a result of this scene, Ackley has posted on social media, warning the public about the dangerous fire conditions.
“We’re behind the eight-ball on having a burn ban right now, just because of the dryness,” Ackley further emphasized.