Wildfire Threatens Bay Road West: The Magnolia Springs Volunteer Fire Department, along with other firefighting crews, battled a wildfire on Bay Road West in an effort to prevent its spread on Sunday afternoon.
Magnolia Springs Fire Chief Kaylan Driskell revealed that the fire had already spread across approximately 60 acres since Wednesday, although they were only notified later.
“Neighbors nearby felt that we already knew about the fire, so they didn’t call it in,” Driskell explained. “However, the fire had been unreported from Wednesday, Thursday or even Friday for that matter.”
The cause of the fire was attributed to a resident on the other side of the woods, who was burning debris in their backyard despite the current burn ban.
“This isn’t the first time the woods on Bay Road West were engulfed in flames. In 2016, a wildfire burned 150 to 200 acres, and in 2014, 500 acres were destroyed,” Driskell added.
Chief Driskell emphasized the frequency of such incidents during this time of year and urged everyone to adhere to Alabama’s burn ban to reduce the strain on limited firefighting resources.
“Resources are very thin, and with the heat and the low humidity out here, it doesn’t take much to get a fire going and be able to handle that and was the big thing,” said Driskell. “So they can follow the burn ban, and it cuts back on the workload for us.”
The burn ban, designed to address dry weather conditions, will remain in effect until October 31
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