Burn ban still in place in Gonzales County

A Gonzales County burn ban approved in October remains in place and may stay that way for a while if the county doesn’t get a significant amount of rainfall this week during an upcoming window of opportunity.

During a Gonzales County commissioners court meeting Monday, Nov. 25, Emergency Management Coordinator Jimmy Harless noted the Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI) for Gonzales County was at 688, indicating severe drought conditions with increased wildfire occurrences. This is two points higher than the 686 average the county reported when it adopted the ban on Oct. 15.

As of Monday, Dec. 2, that number has increased to an average of 694, with a high of 739 in both Nixon and in the entire eastern half of the county and a low of 638 elsewhere.

According to the National Weather Service, Gonzales has a 44 percent chance of morning showers on Wednesday, Dec. 4; a 46 percent chance of morning showers on Thursday, Dec. 5; a 41 percent chance of occasional showers throughout the day on Friday, Dec. 6; a 60 percent chance of occasional showers throughout the day on Saturday, Dec. 7; and a 40 percent chance of morning showers on Sunday, Dec. 8. After that, rain chances are not above 25 percent again until Monday, Dec. 16.

Texas A&M Forest Service (TFS), which monitors wildfire conditions for the state, uses KDBI for determination of drought conditions within the State of Texas. KBDI was developed by John L. Keetch and George Byram with the US Forest Service Southeastern Research Station to correlate the effects of drought on wildfire potential.

The KBDI is based on a daily water balance, where a drought factor is balanced with precipitation and soil moisture (assumed to have a maximum storage capacity of eight inches) and is expressed in hundredths of an inch of soil moisture depletion. 

The KBDI attempts to measure the amount of precipitation necessary to return the soil to full field capacity. It is a closed system ranging from 0 to 800, where 0 represents a saturated soil, and 800 an absolutely dry soil. At any point along the scale, the KBDI value indicates the amount of precipitation it would take to bring the moisture level back to zero, or saturation.

When the KDBI falls between 600-800, intense, deep-burning fires with extreme intensities can be expected. Live fuels can also be expected to burn actively at these levels.

Anyone who violates the burn ban by burning any combustible material outside of an enclosure can be cited at the discretion of Harless or a peace officer for a Class C misdemeanor, which is punishable by a fine of up to $500.

However, there are exemptions in place for non-commercial preparation of food or burning of prickly pear for livestock feed, as well as wildfire mitigation or “prescribed fires conducted in compliance with guidelines set forth by federal or state natural resource agencies and burned under a burn plan approved by such agencies. Prior to a burn, a plan shall be filed in the County Judge’s office and notice given to the local Volunteer Fire Department and the Sheriff’s Office.”

Every county surrounding Gonzales also has a burn ban in place. There currently are 117 of 254 Texas counties which have established a burn ban.

Commissioners also approved paying for training and equipment for Harless as the county’s Fire Marshal through the permit fees being charged under the county subdivision ordinance. There is a fee the county charges for fire inspections that can only be used for fire-related items and so far, about $1,200 has been collected, Harless said.

After speaking to the Auditor’s office, Harless intends to use the money for a fire training class he must take and to purchase fire-resistant gloves, flathead shovels and other equipment. The money will be transferred into a specific line item in the budget that can be used for those purchases.