By Jeremy Unruh, Hutchinson Fire Department Chief of Operations
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson Fire Department will be conducting wildland mitigation operations North and East of Hutchinson this year for our annual mitigation project. The areas North of Hutchinson will include Plum Street from 69th to 95th Avenues, 82nd Avenue from Plum Street to Monroe Street. The area East of Hutchinson will include 69th Avenue along the Sandhills State Park, 30th Avenue from Obee Road to Kent Road, Buhler Road from 4th street to the 1700 block, and Avenue G. from Kent Road to Buhler Road.
This is a coordinated mitigation operation that will burn out the county/city right of ways from the road to the fence lines. This operation will consist of the Hutchinson Fire Department, Reno County Sheriff’s Office, Reno County Emergency Management, Reno County and Hutchinson Public works, and the Kansas Forest Service.
We ask that you use extreme caution in these areas while units are working. Roads may be shut down for short time periods for the safety of personnel and vehicles working during the operations. 30th Avenue will be opened back up no later than 3 p.m. to accommodate school traffic.
HFD has developed a burn plan, and ample resources will be available to keep the mitigation operations under control. Burning will begin January 20th and end by February 20th. The burn will operate under County burning regulations and is dependent on weather conditions. A late morning to early afternoon start time is expected. No burning will be occurring after 5:00 pm.
Updates will be given on our Twitter page for Hutchinson Fire and our Facebook page, Hutchinson Fire HFD.
