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August 31, 2010

Burn ban for Henderson County now in effect

Rich Flowers The Athens Review

Athens — The Henderson County Commissioners Court imposed a burn ban Tuesday, at the request of Fire Marshal Darrell Furrh.

The ban took effect immediately after the vote, and will remain in place for two weeks. Furrh said he had talked with fire chiefs in the county, and was told that they had not seen a big jump in the number of severity of grass fires.

There have been a few to pop up over the past few days, according to Henderson County Sheriff’s Office reports, including one Monday near Tool.

“I think we should err on the side of caution before we have a catastrophe that takes down several buildings or causes a loss of life,” Furrh said.

With the arrival of September, the county usually begins to get an increase in rain, Furrh said, but it will take more than a little precipitation to improve the dry conditions.

“If any grass is already dead, it’s going to burn,” Furrh said.

Precinct 1 County Commissioner Joe Hall said his pasture and fields are extremely dry. Furrh explained that the east part of the county is not nearly as dry as the west side.

“We can’t split the county in two,” Furrh said.

The county now sits between 600 and 700 on the Keetch-Byram Drought Index, the next highest category.

According to the Texas Forest Service, a KBDI index between 600 to 800 means conditions are ripe for “intense, deep-burning fires.”

The Texas Local Government Code exempts burning for agriculture purposes from the ban.

As of Tuesday, the Texas Forest Service listed 72 counties as having a ban in place. Kaufman, Ellis and Navarro Counties, to the west are already under burn bans. Van Zandt, Smith and Anderson Counties are yet to impose a ban.

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