Dry Weather Leads to Fires in Prathersville (Updated)

            The spell of hot, dry weather that has held the area in its grasp for the last few weeks is taking its toll on the grasslands and fire fighters.

            Saturday, in the wake of 15 and 25-mph winds and a high temperature of 99 degrees, fire protection agencies from across the area responded to sixteen calls.

            At the largest of those, a 25-acre grass fire on Peabody Road north of Prathersville and west of Route 19, paramedics treated on sight at least five of 35 fire fighters for heat exhaustion, county fire chief Debra Schuster said.

            Three more of the heavily-clad firefighters were hospitalized for heat exhaustion, and two of those were flown to Springfield Hospital by helicopter. All were treated for about one hour and released.

            Dennis Sapp, fire captain of Station No. 1, said the blaze at Peabody Road, that burned out of control for an hour before it was contained, probably was started by a trash fire. The blaze endangered some nearby farmland and the barn on it, but was extinguished before anything but grass was burned.

            Schuster said that fires like the one on Peabody Road have been starting all day, especially in the northern part of the city and county. Schuster said some of the fires could have been the work of an arsonist, but careless burning was a more likely cause.

            “We don’t have any evidence there is an arsonist,” Schuster said. “We sure hope we don’t have someone running around starting fires on purpose, but there is that possibility.”

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