Nearly 2/3 Of Texas Is Under A Burn Ban

East Texas had its fair share of downpours this past Spring, leaving us pretty wet through the first part of the summer. Then things began to dry up a bit before more rain came in mid-summer, but by late summer and the beginning of Fall, things had become pretty dry in the eastern part of the Lone Star State.

Dry conditions across Texas have led county officials to issue burn bans for their particular county. County leaders look at several different sources to determine whether or not a burn ban is necessary.

Ten days ago, there were only two active burn bans in effect for East Texas. As of Friday, October 18th, more than 20 counties have burn bans in effect in East Texas according to the Texas A&M Forestry Service.

With the arrival of our first major cold front of the season this past week, brisk northerly and north-easterly winds along with low humidity levels have led to an increase in the level of fire danger in East Texas.

Burn bans are now in effect for the following East Texas counties:

• Franklin County
• Cass County
• Marion County
• Harrison County
• Upshur County
• Panola County
• Rusk County
• Smith County
• Henderson County
• Shelby County
• Nacogdoches County
• Cherokee County
• Anderson County
• Sabine County
• Angelina County
• Houston County
• Newton County
• Jasper County
• Tyler County
• Polk County
• Trinity County

As of October 18, 2024 - Texas A&M Forestry Service

The U.S. Drought Monitor

The U.S. Drought Monitor survey for Texas considers much of East Texas to be in a moderate droughty while Delta, Hopkins, Wood, and portions of Smith and Van Zandt County to be under a severe drought.

Texas has a total of 254 counties and according to the the Texas A&M Forestry Service, 165 Texas counties are under a burn ban of some kind. That represents two-thirds of Texas.

Violating a Texas burn ban is a class C misdemeanor and could lead to:

• a $500 fine
• community service hours
• you could be held liable for any destruction from a fire that is intentionally set

While your county may be under a burn ban, it may still be legal to have a fire for cooking purposes as long as you follow county guidelines. You'll want to check with your local Fire Marshal for those guidelines.

If your county is not currently under a burn ban it is recommended that you use extreme caution if you do any outdoor burning and make sure you have a way to extinguish any fire that may begin to get out of control.