Another busy day for local fire departments battling brush fires in these incredibly dry conditions.
Elkhart firefighters responded to a grass fire near Woodland Elementary just before 4 p.m. Wednesday. They say a man was setting off fireworks on the dirt infield of a baseball field, and that caught the grass in the outfield on fire.
They put the fire out and the man was cited, but as you can see it burned a lot of land. Firefighters say they are responding to at least one grass fire a day.
"It does deplete our resources,” said Battalion Chief Wes Johnson. “We're really not set up for wild land or grass fires to some extent. It takes a lot of resources, a lot of man power. We can still cover things in the city but once we do that it leaves us sort of thin."
Firefighters say it may be legal to set off fireworks, but they say in these dry conditions it's not the best idea.
Clay Fire also tells us they've responded to at least one brush fire a day since St. Joseph County issued a burn ban.
