Strong south winds fanned two grassland fires in far eastern Saline County Saturday.
Saline County Sheriff Roger Soldan said this morning that the first call came in at 2:15 p.m. Saturday about a fire in the north ditch in the 10000 block of Country Club Road that had spread to idle grassland under the federal Crop Reduction Program (CRP). Rural Fire District (RFD) No. 1 and No. 5 personnel responded to the fire, which burned 400 acres of CRP land and 80 round bales of hay owned by David Wood, he said.
Soldan said that his office was working with the Dickinson County Sheriff's office, as there were several other fires in the area that were located in Dickinson County. He said it was not known at this time whether the fires were intentionally set or were sparked by a vehicle driving by.
Emergency responders, including RFD No. 1 and No. 5, also were called out at 4 p.m. Saturday for the report of a grassfire in the 10000 block of East Farrelly Road, approximately six miles south of the other fire, Soldan said. Soldan estimated that 80 acres of CRP land and some fencing owned by Douglas Mortimer were burned. Damage to the fence was estimated at $500, he said.
According to Soldan, just before the second fire call came in, the National Weather Service had contacted Saline County Emergency Management about a possible fire, as they had picked up the heat signature on one of their radars.