By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY
Salina Post
With dry conditions throughout the area, Saline County Sheriff Roger Soldan is encouraging residents to be smart and safe when it comes to fire.
Over the weekend, deputies and rural fire district personnel responded to three grass fires sparked by the actions of people and fueled by dry, windy conditions.
Soldan said that just after 4 p.m. Saturday, deputies and Rural Fire District No. 1 personnel responded to a grass fire in a ditch in the 5200 block of E. Magnolia Road. It was discovered that the fire was started by a discarded cigarette.
Then, at approximately 2:53 p.m. Sunday, winds rekindled what had been a controlled burn in a pasture in the 4800 block of E. Farrelly Road the day before, Soldan said. Firefighters from Rural Fire District No. 1, with the assistance of Rural Fire District No. 2, were able to extinguish the blaze.
Then at approximately 4:50 p.m. Sunday in the 2500 block of Erin Way southeast of Salina, the wind and fireplace ashes discarded by a homeowner ignited a grass fire in the yard, Soldan said. Personnel from Rural Fire District No. 5 were able to extinguish the fire.