SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA - Twelve counties across Southwest Virginia have issued burn bans due to dangerously dry conditions.
Chris Thomsen, with the Virginia Department of Forestry's, said the dry conditions go deeper than the ground's surface, so putting out fires is that much harder.
"A bush hog will go out and the blade will strike a rock and it will spark a fire and you don't see that if it's not this dry," Thomsen said.
As long as the drought doesn't let up, neither will the burn bans.
"Sooner or later we'll be out of this, it just doesn't look like it's going to be anytime soon," Thomsen said.