The unseasonably warm weather and dry, windy conditions continue to cause wildfires across the four-state area.

 

 In southwest Missouri, volunteer firefighters have been mobilized to help battle the fifteen-hundred-acre Sugar Fire in Mark Twain National Forest. Firefighters along with the U.S. Forest Service have set up containment areas in hopes of protecting homes and structures in the area. So far, no buildings have been lost to that fire.

 

In Lawrence County, MO, between Joplin and Springfield, two fires this week located 16 miles apart, stretched rural fire departments to their limit in battling the blazes.

 

Northeast Oklahoma has likewise been battling the fire threat with a large fire near Pawhuska and another near the city of Delaware.

 

In Kansas, Montgomery County Emergency Management reports the Dearing Fire Department has been responding to an average of seven fire calls per day, while Wilson County fire crews assisted with a call in Neosho County on Monday. Wildfires have also been active this past weekend in Butler, Sumner, and Sedgwick Counties.

 

Most counties in the listening area, including Montgomery and Labette, have instituted burn bans in hopes of limiting the chance of fires. The forecast for the Coffeyville area today includes a likely chance of rain, but high winds may still be a factor.