More than 60 fires involving about 11-thousand acres are keeping local, state and federal firefighters busy in southeastern Kentucky. Steve Kull, with the state Division of Forestry, said Wednesday that nine crews from Oregon and Idaho are on the scene or headed there, but warm, dry weather could make their work more difficult.
“To have a fire you have to have heat, oxygen and fuel. And the warmer the temperatures out there, the warmer the fuel is to start with. And then flames will make that much hotter. So fires advance quicker when it's this warm and all.”
Kull said many firefighters are working long days and officials hope the Oregon and Utah crews can give them a break.
“Morale is picking up a little bit because I know they have help on the way but obviously, they're tired. And rightfully so they've been working probably 16-hour days, for the most part, we try to get them off the fire a little bit of rest.”
Wednesday, Kull said there were nine wildfires in Pike County, eight in Perry County and five more in Breathitt County.
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