Rain gives Kentucky wildfire crews a ‘break,’ but dry weather looms in the forecast

Rain showers Friday morning offered a reprieve for fire crews who have been working to contain dozens of wildfires across southeastern Kentucky for nearly a week.

“It is great for us to get that kind of precipitation on there and help our firefighters get them under control,” said Steve Kull, an environmental scientist with the Kentucky Division of Forestry. “We still have a lot of active and contained fires that need actions for us to make sure that they stay out.”

Still, the rain — which was at most a quarter to a half-inch of precipitation in some places —was not enough to mitigate drought conditions and any short-term fire danger.

“It’s given us a break,” Kull said. “We’re trying to take advantage of that break as much as we can and realizing that it’s going to turn dry again shortly.”

Citing information from the National Weather Service’s office in Jackson, Kull said humidity levels are expected to drop through the weekend and could elevate the chance of fire early next week.

At least 16 different counties, primarily in Eastern Kentucky, still had burn bans in effect Friday. Approximately 99% of wildland fires in Kentucky are caused by human activity. Arsonists can be reported to police or the Division of Forestry. The arson reporting hotline is 1-800-27-ARSON.

Crews will stay on fires to monitor their activity. Large logs and other “heavy fuels” for the fires — which have burned over 15,000 acres since the beginning of November — could still be burning even after the rain, Kull said.

In Harlan County, the fires monitored by the Sunshine Fire Department were within containment lines Thursday and “pretty well extinguished” Friday, said Steven Hatfield, the department chief. The volunteer department had been working around-the-clock for six days straight.

The rain was expected to stop by the afternoon but Kull said they’re hoping enough fell to stop any new fires from starting Friday.

Ongoing drought conditions and dozens of fires which started over the past week stretched state and local resources. State forestry department crews from Oregon, Idaho and Utah headed to the commonwealth to offer assistance. Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency Thursday.

Neighboring Virginia has also declared a state of emergency as fires have hit other parts of Appalachia too.