Crawford, Sebastian added to counties on burn-ban list

A map showing Burn bans in Arkansas
A map showing Burn bans in Arkansas

Crawford and Sebastian counties are the latest in the state to issue burn bans because of persistent dry weather.

As of Thursday, 46 of the state's 75 counties have banned outdoor burning, according to the Arkansas Forestry Commission website.

All but nine counties in the southeast corner of the state are rated high for wildfire danger on the commission's website.

Announcements from county judges' offices in Van Buren and Fort Smith said residents are barred from burning trash, debris, brush and all other materials during the period when conditions are extremely dry.

"Lawns, fields and wooded areas are exceptionally dry and the flash point for outdoor fires is unusually low," County Judge David Hudson of Sebastian County wrote in a news release Thursday. "Moderate to high winds are also expected over the next few days, which will continue to dry out vegetation as well as spread fire more quickly."

County Judge Dennis Gilstrap of Crawford County wrote in a news release factors such as self-producing wind from open fires in dry weather causes difficulties in containing and controlling outdoor fires and endangers those attempting to control and extinguish the fires.

The hazardous-weather outlook from the National Weather Service office in North Little Rock warned that no precipitation is forecast for several days. Dry air will remain across the area. The moderate to high wildfire danger will persist and could worsen over time.

"Any days where winds become gusty during the day will raise fire weather concerns due to the very dry conditions and cured vegetation," the weather service in Tulsa said in its hazardous-weather outlook.

One fire was reported Thursday in Arkansas, in Marion County, commission communications director Adriane Barnes said. The fire had just been reported midafternoon Thursday, she said, so the size was unknown as crews were still heading to the site.

Two fires burned 2 acres on Wednesday, she said, indicating that conditions the past few days were not conducive to fire because of recent rains in a large part of the state earlier this week. She noted that last week, 60 counties were under burn bans.

The fire danger will rise when the humidity drops, the sun shines and the drought conditions in the state continue, Barnes said.

Barnes said there have been 1,431 wild fires this year that burned 26,100 acres. The most recent year with a high number of wildfires, she said, was 2012 with 2,148 fires that burned 34,434 acres.

The weather service in North Little Rock reported that 72 percent of the state was either in severe or extreme drought. Precipitation tables show that from Sept. 1 to Nov. 30, Little Rock received 2.24 inches, only 17 percent of its normal 13.37-inch rainfall.

Also for that three-month period, Fort Smith got 3.57 inches, or 28 percent, of its normal rainfall; Fayetteville received 6.47 inches, or 48 percent of its normal rainfall; Jonesboro received 2.43 inches, or 20 percent of its normal rainfall; and El Dorado got 3.73 inches, or 28 percent, of its normal rainfall.

Metro on 12/08/2017

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