Approximately three months after Gov. Tate Reeves enacted a burn ban in most of Mississippi’s 82 counties because of dry, hot conditions, recent rains and cooler temperatures have allowed the governor to lift that restriction.
That decision was made effective as of November 16, after Reeves consulted with officials from the Mississippi Forestry Commission and the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. In addition to the recent rainfall, the upcoming weather forecast from the National Weather Service in Jackson calls for more precipitation throughout the state in the coming days and weeks, according to the MFC, although local officials are still urging caution for the measure.
“It’s still real dry – I say that even though the ground is wet,” Lamar County Fire Coordinator Kyle Hill said. “The fuel load is still heavy, because there’s a lot of (burnable vegetation) that fell early.
“You’ve got a lot of trees, shrubs and brushes and things that shed their leaves early because of the heat, so you’ve got a lot of fuel on the ground still, and even wet leaves will burn. Actually, I just flew in from Houston, and as we were getting near land, I could look out in our area and see four or five different places burning. So we’ve still got to be careful.”
Forrest County Fire Coordinator Chip Brown also stressed the need for caution when burning, despite the lift of the ban.
“You can be held responsible for damages caused by a fire you set and that gets out of control,” he posted on Facebook. “You are only allowed to burn items of natural vegetation; plastics and other man-made materials are never allowed.
“Be considerate of your neighbors and how close your burn is, and how much smoke it generates. Some neighbors may have allergies or medical conditions that are worsened by the smoke. Please consider these things if you decide to burn.”
The local sheriff’s department enforces burn bans. Anyone who is deemed responsible for violating burn bans may receive a fine of not less than $100 and not more than $500, in addition to damages caused by smoke or fire.
“If (anyone) sets it on fire, and it gets out of control, we’re going to put it out,” Hill said. “So just be cautious.”
Reeves signed a proclamation initiating the ban on August 21 after consulting with the aforementioned state agencies. As of that time, the following counties were under that restriction: Adams, Amite, Claiborne, Clarke, Copiah, Covington, Forrest, Franklin, George, Greene, Hancock, Harrison, Hinds, Issaquena, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson Davis, Jefferson, Jones, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Lincoln, Madison, Marion, Newton, Pearl River, Perry, Pike, Rankin, Scott, Sharkey, Simpson, Smith, Stone, Walthall, Warren, Wayne, Wilkinson, and Yazoo.
In the days leading up to the ban, temperatures in the local area stretched past 100 degrees several times, necessitating multiple “excessive heat warnings” from the National Weather Service. That, coupled with the lack of recent rainfall in the area, brought about the ban.
Although the statewide ban has been lifted, a number of counties have imposed their own local burn bans. Some of those counties include Attala, Calhoun, Carroll, Chickasaw, Clay, Grenada, Humphreys, Itawamba, Kemper, Lafayette, Lee, Lowndes, Marshall, Monroe, Montgomery, Noxubee, Oktibbeha, Panola, Pontotoc, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tate, Tishomingo, Union, Webster, Winston and Yalobusha.
For more information, visit https://www.mfc.ms.gov.
