By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

RUSSELL COUNTY–A Russell County man started his day in the air, viewing Monday’s fire damage to his land near Lake Wilson. Just after he landed his Cessna 183 airplane, Virgil Lawson went right back to the area, this time in a ground vehicle.

Lawson is a volunteer for the Sylvan Grove Fire Department in Lincoln County to the east, and lives near the dam at Lake Wilson.

“I have pasture on the south side of the lake by Minooka Park. I was piloting a Cessna 182 about 9:30 a.m. this morning and took several photos while surveying the burn damage to my pastures.

“I am also on the Sylvan Grove Fire Department, and right after landing, I was dispatched to the lake fire again today. I’ve been manning a water tanker filling fire trucks at the command post at Exit 206 (on Interstate 70 at Wilson),” Lawson told Hays Post early Tuesday afternoon.

Firefighters from Russell, Ellis and Osborne counties were on the scene at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday of another fire in Russell County south of Fairport. This one started about 3:20 p.m. in northeast Ellis County. Fairport residents and area rural residents were advised to vacate their homes.

“There are a lot of guys on these volunteer departments have been on these fires for a couple of days now with very little sleep,” Lawson added.

Lawson is one of those many volunteers.