ARKANSAS, USA — UPDATE:
After days of rain, many counties across our area have lifted burn bans that were issued in September and October. Counties that have lifted the ban include Washington and Sebastian.
ORIGINAL:
Burn bans started being issued in Arkansas on Monday, Sept. 30. Wesley Mckinney with the Arkansas Forestry Division said this is due to the dry climate.
"We're starting to show some drought up in that Northwest piece," Mckinney said. "We've got a front coming through tonight, and with that front, we're going to see some elevated fire danger with some lower humidities and a little uptick of wind for the next few days."
On Oct. 27, all counties in Arkansas were under extreme or high wildfire danger. By Oct. 31, counties in Northwest Arkansas and parts of the River Valley are still under high wildfire danger. The rest of the state is under moderate wildfire danger.
LeFlore County in Oklahoma is under a burn ban, according to the Oklahoma Forestry Services. The burn ban in Sequoyah County has been lifted.
While these burn bans are to prevent wildfires from starting, Mckinney said they also help to protect firefighters.
"Our crews, along with the U.S. Forest Service, are responding to a lot of fires, and that can really tax our crews if we don't put those burn bans in place," Mckinney said. "Our job is to educate the public and make sure public and firefighter safety is our number one thing."
Mckinney said burn bans usually stretch from October to close to the end of the year. During that same time, he said residents may see an uptick in prescribed burns.
"We're getting into transition, and a lot more agencies, private landowners are out doing prescribed fires," Mckinney said. "We will see an uptick that'll go in through October, November, and then we'll kind of see how December and January play out."
Even if you aren't in a burn ban, Mckinney asks that you make sure you keep an eye on the weather before you start a fire.
"If you know you're going to burn, look at it the day before and see what the weather is," he said. "You've got a threshold. If it's below 25% or even 30% humidity, you know, maybe wait a day where your humidities are a little higher, your winds are below 10 miles an hour. Just look at those things."
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