(Seguin) – Guadalupe County’s outdoor burn ban is back in full swing. The order prohibiting outdoor burning was officially approved this week by the Guadalupe County Commissioners Court. The action comes after weeks of allowing residents the opportunity to burn and clear out those growing brush piles on their property.
Making the recommendation to the court was Patrick Pinder, the Guadalupe County emergency management coordinator and fire marshal.
“Looking at the counties around us and also to include Guadalupe County, all of us are dry. Bexar County’s KDBI index as of yesterday, was at 685; Caldwell was 652; Comal is 720; Gonzales is at 683. We are 724 and Wilson County is at 608. Guadalupe County is the second driest county in the state right now,” said Pinder.
Pinder says not only is the drought index high, but the fire calls are also on the rise.
“Counties that still have the burn ban around us are Bexar, Comal and Wilson and since we lifted the burn ban, we have had 18 brush fires, so we are starting to see that increase. Last week, we had a really large fire up in the York Creek area. The fire department got out there about 4 o’clock and I think about 10 o’clock is when the last unit cleared and so it spread pretty quickly and it took a lot of resources to extinguish that fire,” said Pinder.
Agreeing that it was time to enforce the burn ban was Guadalupe County Commissioner Greg Seidenberger.
“I think most of the agriculture interest has had ample time to take care of their needs. The ones I’ve talked to have utilized these last two weeks or so without a burn ban to accomplish what they need to agricultural wise so I think this is prudent to put it back on,” said Seidenberger.
Although the burn ban was necessary due to the conditions, Pinder says folks can still burn with special permission.
“We will still allow for the permitted burning. It’s outlined in the order here. We will have the permits issued. We will go out and do the inspections. We will still process everything like we have in the past. It’s just going to take a little bit more going out to the homeowner’s residents and taking a look at their burns,” said Pinder.
The burn ban order went into the effect this morning. A violation of this order is a Class C Misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not to exceed $500.