Gov. Jay Nixon has ordered the activation of the State Emergency Operations Center in response to fires and a prolonged period of record heat and low precipitation across Missouri. The Governor also ordered the Missouri National Guard to ready the assets and resources it would need to support firefighting operations in Missouri.

The Missouri Division of Fire Safety is assisting with the coordination of resources. In Iron County approximately 550 acres of the Mark Twain National Forest already have burned, and approximately 2,000 additional acres are at risk.