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(Photo/Alex Kielar) Stephens County Fire Marshal and Breckenridge Fire Chief Malcolm Bufkin speaks to the commissioners court at their Monday, Nov. 10 where the court voted to put a 90-day burn ban back on following a couple of weeks of it being off.
The Stephens County-wide burn ban has been put back on by the commissioners court per the direction of Fire Marshal and Breckenridge Fire Chief Malcolm Bufkin.
Effective Monday, Nov. 10, the burn ban is for another 90 days unless lifted sooner depending on drought conditions. This was following Bufkin issuing a red flag warning for Saturday, Nov. 8 and Sunday, Nov. 9, with high winds and very dry conditions over the weekend.
The Keetch-Bryam Drought Index (KBDI) showed Stephens County on the higher end of the 0-800 scale at 552 Sunday, Nov. 9. Although lower than it was reading a few weeks ago when it was averaging around 630, it has still neared the emergency level of 570.
The county had lifted the burn ban Saturday, Oct. 25 after some rainfall and the KBDI mark dropping into the 300s before rising back up over the last couple of weeks.
“The fuel levels are just getting more dangerous. We’ve got a lot of fuel out there,” Bufkin said.
County Judge Michael Roach noted that it is just a standard burn ban with no additional restrictions, which Bufkin agreed and the commissioners voted unanimously to approve it at their Monday, Nov. 10 meeting.
