Burn ban in effect for 40 Mississippi counties

BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) – Harrison County and several of the Coastal 6 counties are under a red flag fire warning due to the wind, drought conditions, and hot temperatures.

“Right now, you shouldn’t be burning at all. We have a burn ban for any open flame,” said Harrison County Fire Chief Pat Sullivan. “What we’re seeing is people wanting to do open burning, meaning they want to burn off a little piece of property, trash, or woods. They think they have it under control, and at the moment they light it, they have it under control, but the conditions change, the wind picks up, they go inside to get a drink of water, and they come back out and the field is on fire or the woods are on fire.”

Just off of I-10 east in Hancock County, the scorched earth still remains from last week’s 1,500-acre brush fire that shut down traffic and pushed some first responders to the limit.

Currently, 40 counties in Mississippi are under a burn ban.

“The drought has made a huge difference, and the heat dome we’re under has changed the atmospheric conditions, and here we are,” Sullivan said.

Fire officials are urging that fires be reported as soon as possible, so crews can get to the fire as soon as possible.

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