Callahan County keeps burn ban after Forest Service warns of high wildfire risk

Callahan County commissioners voted March 10 to keep the countywide burn ban in effect after regional Forest Service staff warned that a combination of low relative humidity, persistent winds and patchy low rainfall has left some parts of the county at elevated wildfire risk.

The decision followed a presentation from James Morals, regional coordinator for USDA Forest Service Region 1B, and Seth Morris, the agency’s local fire coordinator, who described tools the service uses to predict fire danger and said risk varies across the county. Morals said northeast portions of the county remain below 25% of normal rainfall for this time of year even though some southeast pockets have greened up after recent rains.

“Sometimes our map may look threatening when there’s actually little risk,” Morals told the court, and he offered to walk county staff through the agency’s Texas Intra‑Agency Coordination Center (TICC) resources to help interpret the data. Morris said he coordinates mutual‑aid calls for roughly 100 area fire departments and is the point person counties contact when they need firefighting assistance.

Commissioners noted forecasts of critical dryness and high winds midweek and agreed to maintain the burn ban. No change to the burn ban was taken at the meeting; the court confirmed the ban remains in effect.

The Forest Service presenters supplied printed handouts and directed county staff to the TICC web page for daily predictive products and interagency links. Morals recommended that county officials contact Seth Morris for more detailed briefings tailored to the county’s decision‑making needs.