IMPORTANT: Burn Bans In East Texas And Wildfires Across Texas
It took a bit, but summer arrived with a vengeance in early August and it still has a firm grip upon East Texas. Much of East Texas enjoyed a mild start to summer with a lot of rain in July, but the faucet quickly shut off right before August.
Since then, high pressure has been in control of our weather and daily temperatures have been soaring to the upper 90s near 100 for the past few weeks and with all of that heat, vegetation across not only East Texas, but Texas in general has been drying up. With all of the dry vegetation around it can be a recipe for a disastrous wildfire, if one were to break out.
While burn bans have been enacted in the central and western portions of Texas for some time now, East Texas saw three counties enact burn bans for the 2024 fire season just this week.
Active East Texas Burn Bans
- Henderson County
- Morris County
- Kaufman County
According to the current Texas drought monitor, the northern and northeastern portions of East Texas are classified as 'dry', the lowest on a five-point scale ranging from dry to exceptional. County judges have enacted these burn bans with hopes of preventing any outdoor burning from getting out of control and may be lifted if significant rainfall is received.
Elsewhere in Texas, firefighters are battling 4 major wildfires and have completely contained another 16 wildfires according to Texas A&M Forestry Service. The largest of those fires is in Mason County and has been named the North Art fire. This wildfire has consumed 3000+ acres and is only 10% contained (at the time of this writing).
Active Wildfires Across Texas
- Art Fire - 3000 acres - 10% contained
- Mesquite Fire - 100 acres - 30% contained
- Pine Dump Fire - 10 acres - 60% contained
- Ledbetter Fire - 165 acres - 90% contained
Texas A&M Forest Service tells KXAN that the Art Fire is a combination of three different fires that started because of lightning strikes. Firefighters are working on containment lines to control the spread of this fire.
With things drying out in East Texas do what you can to prevent wildfires.
- Any outdoor burning - have a way of extiguising the flames if they spread
- Completely put out any outdoor campfires
- Do not park or drive on dry grass
- Watch for sparks from power equipment or a chain being dragged on a trailer
- Properly discard any matches or cigarettes
Above all, if you do any burning, do not the the fire unattended in these dry conditions. Always monitor your fire and keep an eye on it.
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