Emergency management says both Estill County wildfires are contained

ESTILL COUNTY, Ky. (WKYT) - Both of the wildfires in Estill County are now 100% contained.

Wednesday night, EMA officials announced containment for the Pitts fire. Later Thursday morning, they announced the Chamberlain fire was also now 100% contained.

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Estill County Emergency Management Director Ronnie Riddle says he is much happier Thursday than he was 24 hours ago. He says getting the Pitts fire 100% contained freed up crews to focus on the Chamberlain fire.

With containment, Riddle says the fire should be able to burn itself out.

“The work that’ll happen today, it’ll make progress. We will. But that rain will hopefully put a stop to the fires completely,” said Riddle.

There are burn bans in place all across the commonwealth, especially in central and eastern Kentucky. That means no burning of any kind, because even something as small as a cigarette butt, can spark a fire and grow into a wildfire.

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