(Radio Iowa) – Outdoor burning is now banned on 61 Iowa counties and fire departments in western, central and eastern Iowa have battled field fires in the past few days. Investigators have not determined the cause of a Thursday afternoon fire between Lake Park and Spirit Lake. Lake Park Fire Chief Brandon Ehret says luckily no homes or buildings caught fire. “When we got there…it had jumped the gravel road and was moving north at a high rate, probably burned about three-quarters of a mile north,” he says. “…Then we did some back burning to the grasslands to the south of it and basically got it stopped from going any farther north.”

The fire chief says the Little Sioux River was on the northeast side of the fire zone and the fire stopped at the river. “Three farmers had discs, got some fire lines to the north and on each side of it,” Ehret says, “so we were able to contain it that way as well.” The latest National Weather Service forecast indicates it will be dry, warm and breezy today (Monday) and there is a high or very high potential for grassland fires.

There is a chance for rain late this (Monday) afternoon and evening in some parts of the state.