Despite a relatively wet May and June, it’s gotten so dry in Texas since then that more than 100 of the state’s 254 counties are under burn bans.
Brad Smith, a wildland fire analyst with the Texas A&M Forest Service says the number of counties under burn bans is growing daily.
“It’s due to drying conditions. It’s due to those 100 degree temperatures we’ve seen over the past couple of weeks,” Smith says. “The vegetation out on the landscape is drying and more receptive to burn.”
Under a burn ban, most outside burning like campfires and debris burning is prohibited. Smith says debris burning accounts for some 80% of fires in Texas.
During the seven days prior to July 15, Smith says 31 wildfires burned 881 acres of land. During the same week in August, 21 fires consumed four times that amount of acreage, Smith says.
Of the fires this year, Smith says, “They are becoming larger, and they’re becoming more resistant to control.”
Smith attributes the increase in fire damage to extremely dry conditions around the state.