Burn Ban Still On For Now

By ANDY BEHLEN

The Fayette County Record

The Fayette County Commissioners Court discussed the burn ban and ultimately kept it in place at their meeting last Thursday, Dec. 12.

The County received some rainfall over the previous weekend. A few folks started fires despite the burn ban, which had been in place since Sept. 26.

“There’s been a lot of people burning,” said Pct. 1 Commissioner Jason McBroom. “We need to get it out to the public that we are thinking about it, assessing the situation.”

The Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI) number for areas in Fayette County was between 600 and 700 as of Dec. 12. The maximum number on the drought scale is 800, which represents the most dangerous potential for wildfire.

“I don’t know if we’re ready to lift it yet,” McBroom said.

McBroom said forecasters predicted up to three inches of rain in the coming days.

“But the forecasts have not been that good lately,” he said.

All of the commissioners said they spoke with fire chiefs in their precincts about potentially lifting the ban. Almost all of them were opposed to lifting it. The current ban is set to expire in two weeks.

“We need to start thinking about it because at the next meeting we’ll need to make a decision about whether we’re going to extend it or not,” Mc-Broom said.

“The rain that we got was great, but it didn’t do a whole lot,” said Pct. 2 Commissioner Luke Sternadel. “There was a little green growth but there’s not a whole lot out there. It’s more dry than green.”

“The fire departments were all pretty busy yesterday,” said EMS Director Josh Vandever. “We heard several (calls) go out over the last couple of days.”

County Judge Dan Mueller said he spoke with Chief Deputy Randy Noviskie of the Sheriff’s Office, who was opposed to lifting the ban.

“Chief (Darren) Guentert in Schulenburg thinks that if it rains like it’s supposed to rain this weekend through next weekend and we get some winter grass shooting up, then maybe by Dec. 23 we could lift it then,” said Pct. 4 Commissioner Drew Brossmann.

The Commissioners agreed to take no action on the burn ban. It will remain in place until it expires at the end of this month unless the Court extends it before then.