Rusk County Downgrades Burn Ban

HENDERSON — Rusk County residents once again can burn trash and brush outdoors, but county officials are pleading with them to be careful and use common sense. According to KETK and the Longview News-Journal, the Rusk County Commissioners Court voted unanimously Thursday morning to change the unconditional burn ban the county had been under since September to a provisional burn ban. “People can now have outdoor fires as long as the fires are in an enclosed burn barrel or receptacle, there is water available nearby and the fire is attended,” said County Judge Joel Hale. “We’re just asking that they take into account the weather conditions.”

Pct. 3 Commissioner Freddy Swann said he thought it was important to allow county residents a window of opportunity in which they could burn before winter frosts set in and dry out vegetation even further. Pct. 4 Commissioner Harold Howell said it’s never been clear how many of the fires that occurred in the county during September and October were the result of people starting fires that got out of control. “Most of the fires we had seemed to be due to downed power lines or lightning strikes,” Howell said. “I think we can trust county residents to make sensible decisions regarding whether or not to burn outdoors.”

The burn ban will remain on the agenda for every meeting for the foreseeable future and will probably be reinstated within the next couple of months if the county doesn’t get significant rainfall, Hale said. The county is 21.5 inches below its normal rainfall for this point in the year.