Tuesday, May 21 2013 12:18 PM EDT2013-05-21 16:18:28 GMT
Three people were inside this burning home but managed to get out safely.
Firefighters are battling a massive fire in East Bank in Kanawha County. A house on Walnut Street went up in flames around 5:15 a.m. Firefighters said two people were home at the time but managed to
Three escape massive fire in a home on Walnut Street in Kanawha County
HUNTINGTON, West Virginia -
The slightest spark could prove disastrous in some parts of West Virginia.
"Many areas are still without power, and a lot of places don't have pumping stations to pump water and some municipalities are without water. If a fire broke out, even if it was a backyard brush pile that caught someone's home on fire, the fire companies wouldn't have water to put it out," said Kevin Arnold, a regional forester with the West Virginia Division of Forestry.
Arnold said the ban means no outside burning. The only exception is a cooking fire in an approved fire pit. Ken Allen of Wayne County and his wife go camping a lot, and they're using common sense to keep it safe.
"We just try and put it out and rake around it with our feet, gather all the leaves from around it and don't build it too big and get out of control. We keep it small," said Allen.
Forestry officials said we are having the dry conditions of the fall now and likelihood of a forest fire increases the longer these conditions continue
Arnold said recent rains have helped but didn't solve the problem.
"The majority of that water ran off. The ground is so dry and hard it ran off of it instead of absorbing it," said Arnold.
The solution said Arnold is a soaking rain for 24 hours that penetrates the ground, but even then he admits that may not be enough.
For more information on the statewide burning ban:
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