Smith County Fire Marshal’s Office discourages outdoor burning

TYLER – The Smith County Fire Marshal’s Office is encouraging citizens to postpone any outdoor burning as drought conditions worsen. Our news partners at KETK report that Officials said the county isn’t under a burn ban yet but the Keetch-Byram Drought Index is expected to rise daily. “While the Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI) remains in the low 500 range for Smith County, it is expected to rise daily if the area doesn’t receive significant rainfall. Historically, the County has implemented a burn ban when the KBDI reaches the mid-600 to 700 range. However, officials also monitor weather conditions and forecasts, along with the daily incident responses from fire departments throughout the county. Currently, incident responses to grass fires are approximately half the amount as compared to this time last year.”

SMITH COUNTY FIRE MARSHAL’S OFFICE
The fire marshal’s office is asking the public to be safe during any outdoor burning by always watching the fire and keeping water, shovels and rakes nearby.

“The firefighters in this county have done an outstanding job of controlling these fires. With the intense heat that our area has experienced, firefighters are tasked with a tremendously strenuous job. We can assist them by keeping their call volume down through proactive prevention measures.”