Citing extremely dry conditions in Central Texas, Travis County Commissioners followed the lead of some neighboring counties today and issued a burn ban. The ban prohibits anyone from burning "any combustible material outside of an enclosure which serves to contain all flames and/or sparks."
"As of yesterday afternoon, our drought index was 518 on the average for Travis County," Fire Marshal Hershel Lee told Commissioners. "What this means to us is that our small fuels like limbs, trees, and small items are very dry."
"The northerly winds that we have bring us lower humidity levels. This allows for fires to spread very quickly, he said. Lee cited a fire in the Eastern Travis County community of Garfield over the weekend as an example.
Commissioners agreed and voted unanimously to adopt a burn ban, effective immediately.
