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Anderson County extends outdoor burn ban 30 days for unincorporated areas
Summary
The Anderson County Commissioners Court voted unanimously to extend an outdoor burn ban for 30 days in unincorporated areas, citing continued dry conditions and high drought-index readings; the order lists four TCEQ exceptions and carries a $500 fine and Class C misdemeanor penalty.
Anderson County Commissioners Court voted unanimously to extend the county—s outdoor burn ban for 30 days in unincorporated areas, the presiding official said during a short, unscheduled meeting.
The extension, approved after a motion by Commissioner Hill and a second from Commissioner Mims, keeps in force restrictions the court first imposed in a seven-day order last week that would have expired without action. The order applies only to unincorporated parts of Anderson County and does not change restrictions inside the municipalities of Palestine, Elkhart and Frankston.
The presiding official told the court the move was driven by persistent dry conditions and a high drought-index reading reported in the transcript as "KVDI," described as "over 600." "So it's still real dry out there," the presiding official said. (Transcript referred to the index as "KVDI." The commonly used drought measure is the Keetch-Byram Drought Index, KBDI; the transcript spelling was preserved in the record and is clarified here.)
The order enumerates four exceptions consistent with guidance from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality: firefighter training; public-utility activities including natural-gas pipeline or mining operations; planning, harvesting or other agricultural crop burns; and burns conducted by a prescribed-burn manager certified under the Natural Resources Code and meeting the standards of Natural Resources Code 153.048 and the standards of Natural Resources Code 153.047.
Violations of the order were described in the meeting record as punishable by a $500 fine and a Class C misdemeanor. The motion to adopt the 30-day extension passed with vocal "Aye" votes from the commissioners, and the presiding official declared the motion "So ordered." The court then moved to adjourn.
The court did not provide additional written findings or a formal scientific citation for the drought-index figure during the meeting. The order, as discussed, is limited to unincorporated Anderson County; municipal jurisdictions named during the discussion remain subject to their own rules.
