Fire risk still high across state

Wed, 07/27/2022 - 5:00 am

Staff Report

Since Friday, the Texas A&M Forest Service (TAMFS) responded to 38 new wildfires throughout the state, which burned approximately 1,458 acres.

Suppression efforts continued on several carryover wildfires, as well, including the 457-acre fire at Possum Kingdom Lake (1148 Fire), which was 95% contained, as of Monday morning.

“The fire environment, characterized by critically to extremely dry vegetation and critical fire weather, will support wildfire activity this week,” a Monday morning statement from TAMFS said.

Currently out of Texas’ 254 counties, 215 have active burn bans in place. This includes Stephens County, which issued a burn ban and disaster declaration July 12.

The ban requires those who perform activities which may emit a flame or spark provide the Breckenridge Fire Department with the activity location beforehand. BFD can be contacted at 254-559-6242.

It also requires them to have a spotter present to supervise any activity to prevent a fire or its spreading They must also have a minimum of 50 gallons of water within the immediate vicinity of the activity, with an adequate mechanism to dispense the water.

“(...) the purpose of this order is the mitigation of the hazard posed by wildfires by curtailing the practice of outdoor burning, whose purpose is to be taken into account in any enforcement action based upon this order,” the order states.

According to the burn ban, those who violate the order may face criminal prosecution.

The county’s order will stay in place through Wednesday, Aug. 17.

The county’s Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI) is still higher than normal, at an average of 678, as of Sunday, July 24.

“The drought index ranges from 0 to 800, where a drought index of 0 represents no moisture depletion, and an index of 800 represents absolutely dry conditions. Presently, this index is derived from ground based estimates of temperature and precipitation derived from weather stations and interpolated manually by experts at Texas A&M Forest Service (TAMFS) for counties across the state. Researchers at Texas A&M University are working with TAMFS to derive this index from AVHRR satellite data and NEXRAD radar rainfall within a GIS,” the KBDI website states.

Active wildfires in the state, as of Monday morning, include:

Chalk Mountain Fire, Somervell County, 6,735 acres, 20% contained;

Cat Fire, Clay County, 60 acres, 50% contained;

Pigmy Fire, Caldwell County, 14.1 acres, 75% contained;

San Gabriel Fire, Williamson County, 500 acres, 75% contained;

Dry Creek Fire, Caldwell County, 6.6 acres, 75% contained;

River Bottom 2 Fire, Hood County, 275 acres, 75% contained;

Turkey Trail Fire, Moore County, 265 acres, 80% contained;

Pumper Road Fire, Caldwell County, 15.5 acres, 85% contained;

Quarry Fire, Wise County, 248 acres, 90% contained;

Escalera Fire, Baylor County, 227 acres, 92% contained;

Oak Grove Fire, Eastland County, 63 acres, 95% contained;