Travis County Commissioners Court
August 25, 2009,
Item 5
5.
consider and take appropriate action regarding the prohibition of outdoor burning in the unincorporated areas of Travis County.
>> good morning, judge, Commissioners.
Travis County fire marshal's office.
our current drought index, kbdi, 725, again up slightly from the last time I was here.
significant note in that is I believe the fact in a in looking at the Texas forest service maps, there are less than 20 square miles of Travis County in the 6 to 700 range.
the remainder, 900 or so square miles are above 700 in the drought index.
so they are very little that -- that even in the 700 range.
we are -- we are in the exceptional drought and -- and very deep.
the number of roadside fires and speaking to a number of the fire chiefs, the numbers of roadside fires are in -- are in -- increasing.
if they don't get to those very quickly, those then fires grow very quickly as well.
one day last week, a -- what we believed to be a -- a cigarette fire, discarded cigarette, burned very close to a number of houses destroyed some fences.
yesterday either a -- either a -- a burn barrel that someone was using should not have been using or a cigarette destroyed a good part of a structure and some vehicles.
so the -- so the number of fires are increasing and -- in -- intensity is increasing.
it's very important for the public to realize that now is a very dangerous time for outdoor burning and as the court appointed out last week, it's also very important to -- to -- to control those things that we -- that people may not normally think of.
such as keeping cigarettes.
be sure that they are out.
dowse them in sand or water.
whatever you do don't let them get out of the car.
the recommendation at this time is to leave the burn ban in place.
>> we've had a few fires that we think were caused by cigarettes thrown from moving vehicles.
>> yes, sir.
>> that's a no-no.
>> that is a no-no.
>> it is dangerous.
>> so basically a bad situation is still getting worse.
>> it is getting worse.
there's no significant rainfall in the short term forecast.
although there is some hope that this 100-degree weather is going to drop into the high 90s.
>> okay.
>> not real good, but it's better.
>> by taking no action today we leave in place the order prohibiting outdoor burning.
>> uh-huh.
>> we'll see you next week.
>> thank you.
>> thank you for the very -- the excellent backup, too.
the maps that were included to show how we fit into a much larger problem.
>> right.
>> really excellent backup.
>> really.
>> thank you.
>> thank you.
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Last Modified:
Tuesday, August 25, 2009 2:07 PM
