Burn Ban Expected Next Week

Expect a burn ban to be declared next week in Tom Green County. Commissioner’s Court met today to discuss if a burn ban should be implemented and at what time.

“My recommendation is [to] let the folks know that if they have any burning to do, you need to do it between now and next Tuesday,” Emergency Management Coordinator Steve Mild said in Commissioner’s Court. “And then I think next Tuesday, we need to revisit the issue of having the burn ban put in place.”

Mild pointed out that the county has been receiving a good deal of rain, which has contributed to the growth of grass and weeds, or “fuel,” in the area.

“We’ve got plenty of moisture in the ground, but the fuel itself is drying out from the top down,” Mild said. “The top layer is dry right now. With the continued 100 degree plus weather, and the wind that is predicted through the end of the month, we’re going to be in extreme fire conditions very shortly.”

The Texas Forest Service (TFS) reported to Mild that they received no calls for service concerning wildfires for several days two weeks ago. However, the number of calls has begun to increase in the last few days.

“I just got today’s report; [TFS] responded to three fires yesterday, one of which was a hundred acre fire in Haskell County,” Mild said. “Haskell has been getting rain after rain after rain, but yesterday, they had a hundred acre fire. It doesn’t take a whole lot to dry that fuel out and we’re there.”

After Mild gave his recommendation, County Judge Steve Floyd agreed to Mild’s suggestion to plan to set a burn ban in effect next week, beginning next Tuesday. The motion was then passed by the court.

“With the weather conditions and the wind that I saw forecasted this morning, I would suggest exercising extreme caution if you go to burn anything now,” Floyd said. “My suggestion is to give them this week’s notice and leave this to [next] week.”