It's been a busy week for firefighters across Eastern Kentucky battling more than 30 wildfires.
"We can get one step ahead and then we fall two steps back," said Alexandra Blevins, a public information officer at the Kentucky Division of Forestry. "Fires that become contained, that's a great thing, but then we'll have two more fires that pop up,"
That's tough for those crews working in challenging terrain. Thankfully, they've got some help coming in. Two ten-person teams from Idaho arrived in Kentucky today. They'll join about 60 Oregon firefighters already on the fire lines. Next week, more teams from Idaho and Utah will arrive.
"With these additional crews, we will be able to hopefully work to better contain the fires that are still active and then closely monitor the ones that are contained, so they don't flare up again," Blevins said.
They're fighting 34 fires across Kentucky, covering just under 10,000 acres. The largest is the Alex Creek Road fire at just over 2,500 acres in Knox County. It's 80% contained. As new firefighters arrive to help continue the battle, the weather over the coming week could be a challenge.
"Above-average temperatures, yet again, going into next week and low relative humidity levels, which is never good for fire," Blevins said.
12 counties have burn bans, on top of the fire season burn restrictions already in place. Blevins says even if your county doesn't have a burn ban, the best thing right now is to refrain from burning. Here is the latest information concerning burn bans across the state.
