With a county wide burn ban in effect the question people want to know is will they be able to set off fireworks as residents prepare to celebrate the Fourth of July this weekend?
“The Fire Danger Forecast shows us in moderate conditions and changes daily,” ,” Emergency Management Coordinator Joel Ardoin said at the Tuesday Commissioners Court meeting. “The majority of the state is under a burn ban.”
Texas A&M Forest Services reported 170 of the 254 counties in Texas have issued a burn ban at this time.
Over half the county is experiencing severe drought conditions according to National Integrated Drought Information System. It was also the 46th driest May on record in the past 128 years with 1.78 inches less of rain from normal. With Orange County seeing over eight inches less of rain this year from January to May, it makes it the 13th driest year for the county. The U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) is updated each Thursday to show the location and intensity of drought across the country using a five-category system, from Abnormally Dry (D0) conditions to Exceptional Drought (D4). The USDM is a joint effort of the National Drought Mitigation Center, USDA, and NOAA
“Tomorrow [Wednesday] and Thursday are our best chances of seeing rain,” Ardoin said. “They are reporting a possibility of one inch of rain and then scattered showers after that.”
Orange County Judge John Gothia reminded people a burn ban was issued on Friday and would stay in effect until further notice.
“It does not impose on fireworks at this time,” Gothia said. “Of course, we don’t want to burn down the county, but we will leave it in place through the weekend. If we have to issue something for fireworks, we will wait until the last moment.”
“Be cognitive of where they [fireworks] go, especially aerial ones which can go into the woods,” Gothia added.
He also said he had spoken with the City of Orange concerning its annual fireworks display.
“They shoot the fireworks over the water,” Gothia said. “As far as I know, at this time, they are still moving forward.”
Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI) is an index used to determining forest fire potential. The drought index is based on a daily water balance, where a drought factor is balanced with precipitation and soil moisture (assumed to have a maximum storage capacity of eight-inches) and is expressed in hundredths of an inch of soil moisture depletion. 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 the Texas Forest Service (TFS) for counties across the state. At time of this article being written, the KBDI for Orange County was reported at 677.
Early summer drying in June also introduces the possibility of experiencing a severe late summer fire season.
This year, wildfire activity has trended above normal for acres burned and number of fire responses. State and local fire resources have responded to an average of 4,047 wildfires for 188,259 acres over the past 5 years. In 2022, firefighters have already responded to 5,047 wildfires that have burned 527,241 acres across the state.
Many recent wildfire starts have required more time and resources to fully contain due to current conditions, according to Texas A&M Forest Service.
Commissioner Johnny Trahan urged residents to observe firework safety this weekend.
“Be careful handling fireworks,” Commissioner Kirk Roccaforte said. “It is very dry out there.”
“There were several brush fires during the weekend,” Commissioner Robert Viator Jr. said. “If you see a fire, call the fire department.”
-Dawn Burleigh, KOGT-
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