A burn ban is officially in place for Grimes County now.
The court met last Friday and took no action, moving the discussion to their regular meeting, held Wednesday morning.
Speaking at that meeting Wednesday, County Judge Joe Fauth and Emergency Management Coordinator David Lilly said, outside of the fire in Walker County last weekend, they have seen enough worrying things in Grimes County to be in favor of the ban.
“Since we met last time, at least in my location in the southern part of Grimes County, we have had two frosts and minimal moisture. And, that does concern me that the potential for fire is increasing day by day. The water levels are low,” said Fauth.
“And actual fires have been occurring, we had several significant fires over the weekend,” Lilly added.
That includes a fire that was burning this week near Cleveland.
Lilly touched on the Walker County fire, which stopped just shy of the Grimes county line, thanks to first responders. But he says that fire highlights the need to enact the burn ban here.
“Thanks to the diligent efforts of all the different fire departments, including Shiro and Richards, that were involved in that response. It did not become an issue for Grimes County, but that just points out how serious it is, and they are in a burn ban in that county, too. So, like I said, there are several fires that have arisen the last few days, and we did not have that situation last week, but that has changed,” said Lilly.
Lilly also said that, even if the county had gotten rain last weekend, the ban still would be necessary, as it would not have been enough rain to moisten the ground.
The burn ban went into effect at 9 am Wednesday morning, November 18th.