Austin, TX
Texas wildfire threats continue amid triple-digit temps
Burn ban issued for Travis County
The Travis County Commissioners Court issued a burn ban for parts of Travis County as Central Texas reaches triple-digit temperatures.
TEXAS – The Travis County Commissioners Court issued a burn ban for parts of Travis County as Central Texas reaches triple-digit temperatures.
The heat has also increased the threat of wildfires across the region.
“The burn ban is going to go into effect immediately and right now we have it scheduled to last for 14 days,” says Travis County spokesperson Hector Nieto.
Travis County’s ban on outdoor burning prohibits unincorporated areas from burning trash and other articles as temperatures reach triple digits in Central Texas.
Burn ban issued for Travis County
First responders warn about excessive heat
Monday, August 19, was the hottest day of the year, so far, in Central Texas. First responders in Travis County are warning residents about the dangerous conditions, signs of heat-related illnesses and how to avoid them.
“Obviously, the temperatures are hot, but the other problem is there is a lack of humidity in the air. When you combine these two, it can be risky for fires, and so what we are trying to do with this burn ban is prevent any wildfires throughout the area,” says Nieto.
Travis County is 1 out of nearly 115 counties under a burn ban in the state, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service.
“Burn bans are a great tool that our local officials can use to indicate that there is a risk in their area. Any little spark can create a wildfire. We encourage everyone to be very cautious with their activities. Anything they are doing outside that can potentially cause a spark even parking their vehicle in tall dry grass, welding their fence using some of that heavy mechanized equipment around their property,” says Texas A&M Forest Service Public Information Officer, Erin O’Connor.
Signs and symptoms of heat stroke, exhaustion
Summer is here, but central Texas has been feeling the heat for a while now. FOX 7’s Rebecca Thomas speaks with ER Dr. Ryan McCorkle with St. David’s Medical Center for more.
This week, Governor Abbott announced he has deployed additional state firefighting resources as wildfire threats continue to increase across Texas and wildfire prepardness reaches level three.
“We put preparedness levels in place as indicators of the fire environment and conditions that we are facing. So with the dry conditions, the continued triple digit temperatures and just the increase in activity as well as our resource commitment, we felt like we needed to increase that level,” says O’Connor.
This month, there were two wildfires in Central Texas. The Pony Haymaker in Caldwell County, spanning 18 acres, and the Bastrop Dame fire, spanning 8. 5 acres. Both are 100 percent contained.
“We are starting to see some activity in the Central Texas area. That area of risk where it is dry and hot is expanding into Central Texas. In the past week, more than 60 wildfires have burned more than 10,000 acres across Texas,” said O’Connor.