Travis County Commissioners Court
February 10, 2009, 2009
Item 3
3.
consider and take appropriate action regarding the prohibition of outdoor burning in the unincorporated areas of Travis County.
>> what about that soaking rain that we got yesterday, mr.
baldwin.
>> pete baldwin, emergency management coordinator.
we loved it, it wasn't enough.
our kbdi, our indicator of how bad fires can be during this time is still well above 650.
in fact this morning it was posted at 679 even after the rain.
we understand that a lot of people have piles or things that they feel like they need to burn and we got some rain and -- for those of us that got over a half of an inch, we are very, very thankful.
but there are other parts of the county that got less than .2 of an inch of rain.
so it was not wide-spread, it was -- it was welcomed rain.
don't ever get me wrong.
we will accept anything that we can get at this stage of the game.
but -- but the issue is what we have got is dead vegetation.
now, we're going to have some very high winds today.
our humidities are going to be up, that's going to help the fire danger.
however, they have already issued a red flag warning for Travis County tomorrow, red flag meaning high winds, low humidities.
they are expecting winds tomorrow of 25 to 30 miles an hour gusting with humanities in the teens, 16, 17%.
so any moisture that falls, fell last night, falls tonight, will quickly be vap operated because we have to remember -- evaporated because we have to remember that it does not rehydrate.
it's dead, may get wet, but as soon as dry winds come along, it goes back to being volatile fuels again.
with that in mind, you know your services are getting called saying we got rain, can we burn.
in the interest of public safety and I've checked with hays county and some of the rest of our surrounding counties, nobody is going out from under outdoor burning ban, we still remain in an exceptional drought in central Texas.
so therefore it would be our recommendation that you go ahead and -- and pass the new outdoor burning ban, which you have before you today, and we can certainly revisit it next week if we -- you know, if we can get some rain in here.
>> governors declarations still in -- still in effect?
>> yes.
>> okay.
>> move that we renew the -- the burn ban.
>> leffingwell: and again, would you mind -- would you mind going ahead and repeat the -- the telephone number just in case someone out there would -- would want to make some inquiries on what's going on here?
could you --
>> certainly.
it will always be posted on the website, but they can certainly call the main emergency service number 854-9367.
they will be directed either to my office or the fire marshal's office, which we can certainly give them some assistance.
>> thank you.
>> all in favor?
that passes by unanimous vote.
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Last Modified:
Tuesday, February 10, 2009 2:00 PM