(Seguin) — The burn ban is not on yet in Guadalupe County. The commissioners court on Tuesday delayed action on the burn ban, despite a recommendation from Patrick Pinder, county emergency management coordinator and fire marshal. Pinder says it may be too dry to continue to allow some of these burns.
“Looking at the counties surrounding us – Bexar, Caldwell, Comal, and Wilson are currently in burn bans. They’re all sitting in the mid 550’s on the KBDI. Gonzales County has not issued a burn ban, there at 490 (KBDI). You can look at the summary report…the average is 555 for us. We have a 676 KBDI on the high end and 362 on the low end. So, it’s gone up a little bit today. It’s my recommendation, even with the rain that we do have outside, (to consider the burn ban). It’s still dry outside. We’re starting to see an increase in grass fires. Fire departments are starting to run side-of-the road fires. Hay-balers are catching on fire, and things like that. So, it is dry out there. Farmers are still going to be able to do what they need to do. As part of the burn ban, there’s permits that we issue for burning. It’s just, we just don’t want folks going out there and just burning things because they just need something to do,” said Pinder.
County Judge Kyle Kutscher says it is very dry in some areas, but he says the rain that’s currently in the forecast will allow them to push this decision back for another week.
“My opinion is we probably should not (issue a burn ban), and bump it to next week, just because we’ve got that additional rain (coming). But everybody needs to know whether we put a burn ban on or not, we always talk about individual responsibility and safety. Whether they’re welding or burning trash or brush, it doesn’t matter how much rain there is when it’s windy. Don’t burn something if you’re in a grass field. Have a water source and a spotter. So everybody, please be careful all the time, not just when we say to be careful,” said Kutscher.
The burn ban will be reconsidered during next Tuesday’s meeting of the commissioners court.