Camden County issues county-wide burn ban until April 1

Yahoo

19-03-2025

CAMDEN COUNTY, Mo. – Firefighters in Camden County have been fighting fires nonstop since Friday.
Now the entire county is in a burn ban.
'This has just been unprecedented, especially having so many days back to back when we're having extreme or critical fire conditions,' said Emergency Management Director John Scheper.
The county-wide burn ban means you are not allowed to set any intentional fires or you could face misdemeanor charges and a $250 fine.
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'The firefight here in Camden County has been remarkable,' Scheper said. 'I don't know that we've ever seen anything like this.'
Scheper credits their mutual aid partners across the state for helping them get a handle on these numerous fires.
He says right now, they don't know how many fires have popped up in the county, but they do know over two dozen structures have been damaged, and over 30 vehicles, including boats, have been caught in the flames.
'Our people, our resources, our equipment are just stretched to the limit right now,' Scheper said. 'And what we really need is probably a two or three days sustained rain.'
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Scheper estimates that 2,500 to 3,500 acres have burned.
'This is still an ongoing event,' Scheper said. 'Realistically, the first major relief that I think we're going to see is maybe this weekend.'
No one has died from these fires, but a few firefighters have minor injuries.
'Our firefighters are pretty resilient group of people,' Scheper said. 'It would take a lot to put any of them out of action.'
The burn ban is in effect until April 1.
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