Although there are no laws in Callaway County preventing residents from burning trash or yard waste, local fire officials are hoping they will use their common sense and hold off until weather conditions improve.
There has been a rash of grass and brush fires in the county recently, including two large ones on Wednesday - one on State Route KK and another on Mokane Road just south of Fulton.
"We've responded to eight between yesterday and today," said Lt. Jordan Holland with the Central Callaway Fire Protection District. "It's kind of expected with the dry conditions we have right now. There's no law right now saying they can't burn, and unfortunately some people think it's okay.
"All the grass and fields are dead and very dry, and they'll just go up like a match, and that also just causes it to spread even faster."
Although the number of grass and brush fires has gone up recently, Holland said that thus far the damage has been limited to just that.
"We haven't had one spread to any structures yet, which is our main goal," he said.