Sunday, May 5, 2024
The Hood County Fire Marshal’s Office has officially lifted the county-wide burn ban as of Wednesday, Oct. 25 — an action that supersedes the 90-day burn ban extension that was unanimously voted on by the Hood County Commissioners Court a day prior on Tuesday, Oct. 24.
A one-week burn ban was originally put into place by Hood County Fire Marshal Jeff Young on July 18, but was later extended to 90 days on July 25.
During the Hood County Commissioners Court, Deputy Fire Marshal Mike Stafford explained that the last rain Hood County received was “nice to have” but that it still didn’t bring the numbers down low enough on the KBDI index.
The Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI) is an indicator used by the Texas Forest Service to relate recent and current weather conditions to expected fire behavior. Higher KBDI values indicate an increased fire risk due to lower fuel moisture. Drought conditions generally exist when the KBDI is greater than 575.
"Today (Oct. 24), we're still at 585, so we're well above the threshold to keep the burn ban,” Stafford said, during the meeting.
When asked why the Hood County Fire Marshal’s Office lifted the burn ban when it was just extended the day before, Young explained that since the county received more rainfall within the past day, he felt comfortable lifting the burn ban on Oct. 25.
“Yesterday in court, the KBDI was still at 566. Had we not done the extension in court yesterday, the 90-day burn ban would have expired before the next court,” Young said in an email to the HCN on Oct. 25. “Although there was rain in the forecast, we cannot always depend on that, so I made the decision to request the extension. With the rain we received county wide, it reduced the KBDI by 112 points, dropping us below the trigger point I was going to use to ask to (rescind) it. The average as of today's data put (the KBDI Index) at 452. We could still use more rain, but I was comfortable lifting the ban until it dries out again.”
