Travis County Commissioners Court
April 14, 2009,
Item 1
Now, item no.
1 is to consider and take appropriate action regarding the the prohibition of outdoor burning in the unincorporated areas of Travis County.
>> good morning, judge, economics.
>> [indiscernible] pete baldwin from emergency management.
today's drought index, the mean for Travis County is 527 which is an increase of approximately 20 points over the last time we discussed this issue.
there is some rain in the forecast, if it happens over a period of three days, it will be very helpful.
but under the -- under the current conditions we have -- we have polled all of the esd's chief that have unanimously agreed that it would be a good idea to keep the burn ban in place.
with the number of wild fires that have been burning in Texas over the last seven days, in areas that have an index similar to ours, our recommendation is to keep the burn ban in place for another week.
>> okay.
one resident remarked to me that the more it rains, the higher that index gets.
>> [laughter] that resident wonders whether the index really works.
i should answer?
>> you should answer because even though we get some of the rains, they are usually followed by the dry strong winds that evaporate what's there.
and that index is a key to our dead fuel moisture.
it's not the live green stuff.
now, we get some benefit from that.
but the keach I object decks is the moisture in the dry fuels.
the fuels of grasses and larger fuels that are a quarter to two or three inches in diameter laying on the ground that really contribute to the intensity of the fire if they get started.
once those get the moisture content back up, then we are in much better shape.
>> my response would be yes, sir, that index does work.
>> yes, sir.
>> by taking no action, we leave the burn ban in place.
>> correct.
>> questions should be directed to the fire marshal's office or pete baldwin at emergency services.
>> correct.
>> okay.
we'll have this back on next week just in case we get three days of rain.
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Last Modified:
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 2:20 PM