Ripe for a blaze: Fire chief warns about dry conditions

Published 2:38 pm Thursday, January 23, 2014

With the dry, windy weather conditions lately, any small chance at igniting a fire could turn into a much larger blaze, Brewton Fire Chief Lawrence Weaver warned Thursday.

Earlier this week, Brewton firefighters battled a small brush fire in the city limits, which was possibly set by youth in the area.

But Weaver wanted to remind residents that the city of Brewton has a no-burn ordinance.

“You could almost thump a cigarette out of your car and start a fire” under current conditions, Weaver said. “We need help from the people. We could have some catastrophic situations going on.”

Even those who live outside the city limits and can burn trash legally probably shouldn’t, Weaver said, because of the danger it poses.

“The cold weather has dried everything out,” he said. “Plus, with the wind we have, it’s probably going to be like this until we start greening up. People need to be reminded to be careful.”