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Burn Ban Effective Immediately In Travis County

campfire
Image courtesy Dido http://www.flickr.com/photos/iyadtb/
Camp fires like this one are prohibited in Travis County after County Commissioners issued a burn ban today.

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.

Nathan Bernier is the transportation reporter at KUT. He covers the big projects that are reshaping how we get around Austin, like the I-35 overhaul, the airport's rapid growth and the multibillion dollar transit expansion Project Connect. He also focuses on the daily changes that affect how we walk, bike and drive around the city. Got a tip? Email him at nbernier@kut.org. Follow him on Twitter @KUTnathan.
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