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It’s legal for residents in rural Montgomery County to burn small amounts of brush on their property. But fire officials are asking people not to, unless they can watch the fire until it’s completely out.
Fire Marshal Jimmy Williams says most of Montgomery County is now in a moderate drought, and he’s worried that one of those fires could get out of control.
“All of that grass that we had grow, and all the brush that grew from the rainfall in the spring and early summer, it’s the first to be affected by the lack of rainfall,” says Williams.
Despite the dry conditions, Williams says they haven’t had too much of a problem with wildfires this summer, mainly because of high humidity and low winds. But if the winds pick up, the threat increases dramatically.
“And if we see we’re going to be in that situation where we have the potential for large fires, or very difficult to control fires, that’s when we’ll be putting the burn ban in place,” says Williams.
On Labor Day 2011, Montgomery County had a massive wildfire in the Magnolia area. That fire consumed more than 2,000 acres and destroyed over 100 homes.
The Keetch-Byram Drought Index maps are from Texas A&M Forest Service Website
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