Red flag warning issued for region due to conditions

Firemen: Avoid outdoor burning

The Forrest City Fire Department will currently not be issuing any burn permits due to dry weather and high winds which have caused the National Weather Service to issue a red flag warning for this area.

FCFD Chief Shane Dallas said the NWS issues these warnings when the weather is right for fires to rage out of control, even in the hands of experienced firefighters.

"Because of the issuance of the red flag warning, we will not be issuing burn permits at this time," said Dallas. "The National Weather Service issues these red flag warnings, meaning there is very low humidity and high winds, which makes it very dangerous. Fire can burn and spread at a quick pace and it is hard to get it under control."

Dallas said that while the FCFD will not be issuing burn permits at this time, they also recommend that residents in the county not burn anything as well.

"The reason they issue these red flag warnings is to let us know that the humidity levels and everything else makes it very dangerous to burn things, and we are going to follow their recommendations and not issue burn permits," said Dallas.

"For those outside of the city that we do not regulate, we are going to strongly recommend that they do not burn anything right now,” continued Dallas. “With low humidity levels and high winds, anything you try to do is probably going to spread and it will be difficult to control even for us. Anything uncontrollable can damage property."

According to St. Francis County Office of Emergency Management Coordinator Zakk Jumper, 20 mile-per-hour winds, which are expected today, could cause fires to spread quickly in the area.

"We have not had any rain recently and it is really dry right now," said Jumper. "For the county, I recommend not burning at all at this time. Just yesterday, a grass fire got out of hand in the Newcastle area. We have some 20 mile-per-hour winds today and these high winds mixed with how dry it is right now could cause fires to spread quickly."

Katie West • Times-Herald Kagan Word, seated, and Caylan McKissick work on lettering for the homecoming court’s parade float. The Forrest City School District will host its homecoming parade on Thursday, beginning at 6 p.m. Lineup for the parade begins at 5 p.m., at the Civic Center parking lot.