Dry weather prompts burn ban in Charlotte area

MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. -- Dangerously dry weather is prompting burning bans throughout our area.

On Monday, Mecklenburg County put a burn ban in effect. In South Carolina, there is a statewide request from the Forestry Commission to postpone outdoor burning. The commission has also issued warnings that fires could get out of control.

If you walk outside you can hear the dryness under your feet and in your hands. That crunch, whether it is leaves, branches, twigs, brush or grass, is dry fire fuel waiting to burn.

Caterina Shipman noticed it while playing with her 3-year-old son, Julian, Monday afternoon.

The playground is dry, the woodchips are dry, the evergreens are all looking dry, a little bit thirsty, said Shipman. Everything around here is dry needles and dry leaves. As soon as one catches fire they're all going to catch.

That's what happened on Montague Road in Clover.

Firefighters say embers from a garbage fire in a neighbor's yard jumped to dry ground next door and burned a half acre.

They cited the owner for burning without a permit and put it out by plowing the ground around it, eliminating the fire's fuel.

We've had a few grass fires, said Fire Chief Don Love with the Bethel Volunteer Fire Department.

He said that in these conditions a small fire can become a large one within seconds.

It might look like something small to you, next thing you know it's in a structure and it's a major fire, Love explained.

That's what the bans and warnings are trying to prevent.

A brush fire is one thing, but seconds later it could be at your house.

Becky and David Dodson live on five acres and don't want to chance it.

We've been cutting things. We've just been piling them up, Becky Dodson said.

Waiting for a good rain, David Dodson explained.

The South Carolina Forestry Commission says there have been nearly 500 wildfires across the state just this month.

Firefighters say if you are burning in areas where it is allowed, stay there and watch the fire until it is out. Also, clear space around the fire to prevent it from jumping to brush and grass.