ARKANSAS, USA — Much of Arkansas remains under a burn ban after the weather has brought little to no rain lately.
Just this past weekend nearly two dozen wildfires broke out across the state, and officials said that it’s an important reminder that the fire danger isn't over just yet.
“From 3:30 Saturday afternoon to 3:30 Sunday afternoon we had 21 fires,” said Arkansas State Forester, Joe Fox.
Fox explained that those fires burned nearly two thousand acres, though fortunately, no homes were damaged in the fires.
"16 of the 21 fires were in Central or South Arkansas, mostly South Arkansas,” Fox added.
Two of those fires created the biggest threats for fire crews— One of them took place in Bradley County.
“512 acres and it was scary when the wind for a little while and got close to the City of Warren,” said Fox.
The other fire that was nearly twice as large was in Jackson County.
“A little bit over 1,000 acres, it was almost all grass with 10 acres of forest,” said Fox.
Fox explained that this has been an especially dangerous and tough fire season and it's on track to become the worst Arkansas has seen in a decade.
“We will likely pass 2012 this week and that was it was just under 31,000 acres,” said Fox. “And we're approaching 31,000 acres for this calendar year right now.”
He also warned that as long as there are still strong winds and a lack of rain we're not out of the clear just yet.
“The fire warnings are not over, and they can last well into the wintertime is if we don't get much rain,” said Fox.
Many Arkansas counties have continued to be under burn bans and that's something Fox hopes will be able to make a difference.
“Under these conditions have had a low number of fires for what we could have had and what we would have had in other years," said Fox.
The Forestry Division has continued to work with fire agencies to make sure all hands are ready to help.
“We can't do it by ourselves here in Arkansas,” said Fox. “It does take all of us working together.”