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Hays County established a burn ban on Friday due to some small grass fires and a lack of expected rain.
“We started to have a few grass fires here and there,” Steve Seddig, Hays County Fire Marshal said. There was a chance of rain on Wednesday and Thursday last week, so Seddig held off on establishing the burn ban during last week’s commissioners court meeting. When those rains didn’t arrive, he had a discussion with Hays County Emergency Services Manager Mike Jones, and they decided the burn ban was necessary.
“We didn’t get the rain that was expected recently,” Seddig said. “… Because of the winds and the drier weather that we have, in addition to the rain that we missed out on during the lows that we had – the high pressure is back again, so it is pushing all the rain possibilities out for at least another week or so.” Seddig said that he thought the burn ban could come off relatively quickly if there is a “good soaking rain.”
The Keetch-Byram Drought Index measures forest fire potential. The drought index is based on a daily water balance, where a drought factor is balanced with precipitation and soil moisture. The index ranges from 0, which represents no moisture depletion, and 800, which represents absolutely dry conditions. The minimum in Hays County as of Sept. 30 is 546 and a high of 692. Most of the county is considered to be in the second driest category shown.
“Please discard your cigarettes in the ashtray within your vehicle,” Seddig said. “Do not throw them out the window of your car, please. That’s the biggest thing. The roadways and the cartilage along the roadways are getting dry.”
