ARTHUR, Ill. (WCIA) — Dry weather across Central Illinois in the past 40 days is making field fires a real concern, according to farmers and firefighters.

The hot weather combined with no rain is not only creating fire-conducive conditions, but also impacting yields for some farmers.

“We thought we had a bumper crop going into the beginning of August, because we had timely rains, the heat kind of hurt and then it turned off dry,” Lucas Roney said. 

Duane Hopkins has been a firefighter in Arthur for 40 years, and has sold seed with Prairie Green Seed for 30. He helped nearby farmers with the harvest this past weekend — and noticed the impact of the recent weather.

“The crop has dried down exceptionally fast, and creates a tinder box per se, it doesn’t take much to get a fire started,” Hopkins said. 

Hopkins added that once field fires get started, they’re hard to put out in these conditions. 

The experienced firefighter said he responded to a fire in the past two years that started small, but ended up spanning six miles; it’s exactly why prevention is key.

“The farmer can do a much better job of getting in front of the fire and putting it out than what the fire department can,” Hopkins said. “We’ve got a limited resource with our water, once it’s gone we’ve got to refill.”

One of the most important measures is taking care of combine bearings and other farm equipment that can fail or start sparking — the most common cause of field fires, according to both Hopkins and Roney.

“We do a lot of preventative maintenance for that reason, make sure we catch those failing bearings before they cause a fire like that,” Roney said.

He said there is one thing that will help with yields and fire risk as farmers approach the harvest.

“If we get a couple inches of rain in the next few weeks that’d really help, we’ve got soybeans that haven’t fully matured yet,” Roney said.