Few fire calls make burn ban unlikely
By BENJAMIN C. SHARP bensharp@journal-spectator.com

Emergency management officials are no longer planning on asking county commissioners to implement a burn ban next week.

Current weather patterns and a few fire calls simply don't justify it, said County Emergency Management Coordinator Andy Kirkland on Friday.

"We have put a place on the agenda (of Monday's court meeting) so that if it needs to be discussed we can, but the (fire) call numbers don't call for it."

Wharton Fire Chief Bobby Barnett agreed. He said his department has answered just a handful of grass fire calls so far this year - and most were controlled burns. One of those calls occurred Thursday afternoon.

"I talked with the other (fire) chiefs and they felt the same; we didn't think it warranted the burn ban," Barnett said.

Although the county's Keetch-Byram Drought Index - a measure of ground moisture - was well beneath the 500 mark that signals automatic institution of a burn ban, officials are concerned that an accumulation of dead undergrowth might pose a fire risk. Around 160 counties currently have a ban.

How long Wharton County will stay free of one is unknown. Pacific fronts forecast to pass through the area soon are expected to lower the humidity even more.

"You've really got a potential problem," Kirkland said.