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Fire crews turning the tide against Kentucky wildfires

This fire at the Kate Camp Branch of Forest Hills is one of many Pike County firefighters, with help from the state Division of Forestry, have battled since Nov. 5.
Nee Jackson
/
Pike County Emergency Management
This fire at the Kate Camp Branch of Forest Hills is one of many Pike County firefighters, with help from the state Division of Forestry, have battled since Nov. 5.

 
Kentucky fire crews are still battling 14 active wildfires across the commonwealth. This is down from 31 active fires around this time last week. As of Thursday afternoon, 38 fires have been contained, up from the 36 from last week.

During an update this week, Governor Beshear said Kentucky has had quite a bit of help in dealing with the fires.

“More than 330 firefighters have been on the ground fighting these blazes, including crews from here in Kentucky, the Oregon Department of Forestry, Idaho Department of Lands, and Utah Division of Forestry Fire and State lands, and we’re grateful for those partners.”

Governor Beshear said this has been a rough month for Kentucky’s forests.

“ In all, since November 3rd, wildfires have scorched more than 31,000 acres across Kentucky. We’re trending in the right direction, what we need is rain, remember, when you pray for rain, be very specific with everything we’ve already been through, and there is some in the forecast.”

Seven counties, including Perry, Knox, Bell, Pike, Harlan, Bell, and Lawrence, have seen more than 1,000 acres burned.

 

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Stan Ingold is WEKU's News Director. He has worked in public broadcasting for 18 years, starting at Morehead State Public Radio before spending the past 10 years at Alabama Public Radio. Stan has been honored with numerous journalism awards for his public radio reporting.
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