Johnson County Fair prepares in dry conditions - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

Drought is not drying up the Johnson County Fair, but it is putting the heat on safety.

"You pull that up and see that, enough to start a fire right here," said Brian Young, holding up a tuft of crispy dry grass.

To fire up safety, the fair is snuffing out smoking.

"No smoking on fair grounds the whole week of the fair," Young said.

Smoking materials are also banned.

When the fair starts Sunday, they will station a fire truck on the grounds and they've trimmed the grass real close on the infield where hundreds of cars will park. They want to avoid field fires started by hot cars.

They will also ask fairgoers not to idle in the parking lot. Fair officials do worry about the campers that will be parked overnight, and about what's behind a stockade fence on the edge of the fairgrounds.

"The Methodist home and a subdivision on the north side. There's a lot of lives at stake if a fire got away and go out of hand," Young said.

For midway worker Heather Perkins, it will mean adjusting her habits.

"It's pretty dry out here, I know," she said. "I think they should make a smoking area, if they're going to have that."

She tried gum instead Wednesday.

"Rules are rules. We'll follow them if we have to," Perkins said.

When Perkins and her partner, Chastity Herbert, found out it could be a week to stop smoking, Herbert said, "No thank you. My nerves couldn't take it."

At the Washington Township fire station in Morgan County, firefighter JR Lacy keeps the grass fire trucks ready for action. Despite a number of area fires, he says it's not as bad in his area as could be.

"The burn ban in Morgan County is helping to keep fires down," Lacy said.

He worries about cigarettes thrown from cars on the road.

"It doesn't take long. Traffic creates a breeze, it could really get going pretty good," Lacy said.