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The spell of hot, dry weather that has held the area in its grasp for the last few weeks is taking its toll on grasslands and firefighters.

Saturday, in the wake of 15- 25-mph winds and a high temperature of 99 degrees, fire protection agencies across the area responded to 16 calls.

The largest of those was a 25-acre grass fire on Peabody Road north of Prathersville and west of Route 19. According to the county fire chief, Debra Schuster, paramedics treated at least five of 35 fire fighters for heat exhaustion.

Three more of the heavily clad firefighters were hospitalized for heat exhaustion, and two of those were flown to Springfield Hospital by helicopter. They were all treated for about one hour before they were released.

Dennis Sapp, fire captain of Station No. 1, said the blaze off of Peabody Roady was , probably started by a trash fire. The fire was contained after burning for one hour. Some nearby farmland and the barn were endangered, but the fire was extinguished before anything other than grass was burned.

Schuster said fires like the one on Peabody Road had been starting all day, especially in the northern part of the city and county . Schuster said some of the fires could have been the work of an arsonist, but careless burning was a more likely cause.

“We don’t have any evidence there is an arsonist,” Schuster said. “We sure hope we don’t have someone running around starting fires on purpose, but there is that possibility.”

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(Photo from Fire Fighting Technologies)