DNR Said Weather, Lack of Snow Contributed to Wildfire Spreading
By Robert Lawson
News Director, KTOE News
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources said weather contributed to the Waseca wildfire that burned more than 1700 acres of grass and swampland area this past Sunday. It took 12 fire departments to respond and extinguish the blaze. Meteorologists and DNR officials said the fire spread quickly by jumping across roads due to high winds, dry conditions and even a lack of snow, which keeps plant matter moist. Usually, these types of wildfires are rare this time of year and broken up by farmland and settlement areas. Officials believe the fire started from a manmade fire on private lands.
Yesterday, the National Weather Service issued a Red Flag Warning in Southwest Minnesota and expanded it to 14 additional counties in southwest and south-central Minnesota from noon to 6 p.m. The additional counties included Blue Earth, Brown, Cottonwood, Jackson, Kandiyohi, LeSueur, Watonwan, Martin, McLeod, Nicollet, Nobles, Redwood, Renville and Sibley counties. Red Flag Warnings were initially issued for Big Stone, Chippewa, Lac que Pearle, Lincoln, Lyon, Murray, Pipestone, Rock, Pope, Stevens, Swift, Traverse and Yellow Medicine counties. Red Flag Warnings are evolving situations.
