WOODVILLE – On Monday Tyler County Judge Milton Powers issued a burn ban.
The order to restrict outdoor burning and disaster declaration, issued by Judge Powers on Feb. 25, cited the imminent threat of widespread or severe damage, injury or loss of life or property potentially resulting from countywide drought conditions.
The ban prohibits all outdoor burning, which includes trash, brush, trees, storm debris, construction material debris as well as campfires, and it is in effect until it expires, or is renewed, continued or rescinded by the county’s Commissioners Court.
At present, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service, there are 157 Texas counties with active burn bans going, with only neighboring Jasper County not under a burn ban in our region.
The county’s emergency management coordinator Justin Dilbeck said on Monday that the Keetch-Byram Drought Index reading reached 701. That tool is an index that measures moisture in the soil on a scale of 0 to 800, with 0 being the wettest and 800 the dryest.
"The county as a whole needs rain. The decision was made today to order a burn ban," Dilbeck wrote on the agency’s Facebook page.
Violating the order is a Class C misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500.
