Today’s front-page stories about the serious consequences of the combination of heat and drought call for plenty of concern.
Crops are drying up. Pastures are drying up. Farm ponds are drying up. All of that means that people’s livelihoods are drying up.
But there’s another concern related to the drought that puts people’s lives at risk. That’s the real and present danger of fire.
This past week huge wildfires scorched hundreds of acres, including a monstrous blaze on Saturday northwest of Diamond that damaged structures.
Early in the week, a fire in Lawrence County burned nearly 700 acres, and kept firemen and volunteers out in the heat throughout the day and into the evening.
On Thursday, some 50 firefighters from nine departments fought a grass fire north of Diamond. They got it out, but not before it destroyed outbuildings, 700 bales of hay and 300 acres of pastureland.
Friday’s fire was reported near Seneca. It burned 100 acres and hay. Some 40 firefighters battled the blaze and the blistering heat that day, all because someone decided to burn trash.
Burn bans, in effect throughout our region, should be taken seriously. Those who disregard the bans should face fines. Their actions threaten property and use up valuable natural resources.
Worse than that, it puts firefighters — many of them volunteers — at risk. The triple-digit temperatures are truly deadly.
Our area is a tinderbox. The weather experts don’t see rain in the forecast. We are likely in the grips of this drought for some time.
So, if you are one of those people who think the rules don’t apply to you, think twice.
Someone’s life may depend on it.
Opinion
Our View: Playing with fire ... and lives
- Opinion
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Our View: ‘Why?’ has no answer
Just hours before, there was breakfast and laughter. There were pictures on the walls and memories in every room.
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Our View: Absent from House
We can’t figure out why two Missouri legislators think they should be elected to the U.S. House when it appears they can’t seem to show up to take care of business in the Missouri House.
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Your View: Terrorism is terrorism
In the May 13 issue of The Joplin Globe there was an Associated Press article concerning the New Orleans shooting.
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Your View: Should we be outraged?
Were there effusive apologies following the lockdown of Boston as most of the continent indulged vicariously in the ongoing manhunt?
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Your View: Terrible injustice
I see this Jasper County nuisance law as a terrible injustice on the rights of the residents of Jasper County.
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Other Views: Conflicts in SEC
Money talks. In the continuing dispute over the all-too-cozy relationship between the people who create and sell financial products and the people who rate their risk, the money says: Shut up and let us do what we want.
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Phill Brooks, columnist: Missouri Senate did what Founding Fathers had in mind
George Washington once described the Senate as being like a saucer in which you pour coffee or tea.
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Our View: Fixing failure
Some 1,200 injured workers will finally get the payments they are owed. In its final week in session, Missouri’s General Assembly, through bipartisan efforts, passed a solution to address the insolvency of the state’s Second Injury Fund.
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Herb B. Kuhn, guest columnist: Delaying Medicaid reform could hurt rural Missouri
The Missouri Legislature missed a rare opportunity in the just-ended session to transform Medicaid and make a real difference in the lives and health of hundreds of thousands of our neighbors. Rural Missouri has the most to lose from the legislature’s failure to act.
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Kevin Wilson, guest columnist: When fear wins out, so do the terrorists
I’m going to make a bold statement that’s sure to draw a lot of comments, but hear me out before reaching for the keyboard to type a rebuttal.
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