Area fire departments had a busy weekend chasing brush, field and grass fires, including a 10-acre fire in Jefferson County Saturday afternoon that required three departments to bring under control.
Firefighters from Jefferson County Rural Fire District, Woodlawn and Mt. Vernon responded to the fire that started as a brush fire that got out of control.
Fire calls continued throughout the weekend, with calls coming in for multiple agencies Sunday, mostly for brush fires that started burning out of control.
Fire departments ask that as you do spring clean your property that you to only burn small piles instead of large piles to make controlling them easier. Also, place all piles as far away from structures and tree lines as possible, while paying special attention to the direction and intensity that the wind is blowing.
They remind people to call 911 as soon as you can when an emergency service is needed.
Know the address of the location of the emergency, and be prepared to answer in detail as many questions as possible that you are asked by the dispatcher, as that will allow the responding agencies to deploy the correct equipment.
As always, test and inspect your smoke detectors, as they do save lives, but only if you have them, and they are functioning. Seven children were killed in New York just days ago because there were no smoke detectors to warn them of a fire.