Fire Danger Outlook for early September

By BUDD JOHNSON

Cove Leader-Press 

On Monday August 12, the Texas A&M Forest Service raised the Wildland Fire Preparedness Level to Level 3 due to the increase in current and expected wildfire activity across the state. 

Level 3 means that wildfire activity is impacting several regions of the state as a result of drought, dry vegetation, and frequent wildfire events. The Forest Service has strategically positioned personnel, equipment, and aircraft in areas at risk. 

As of Tuesday, the Forest Service has assisted with 334 wildfires totaling 1.3 million acres, thankfully none in Coryell County. 

I believe that to be the result of our residents using fire prevention precautions and the “blitz” responses of three fire departments to all grass fires during the Burn Ban conditions. 

On Tuesday, August 27, Coryell County Judge Roger Miller declared a Burn Ban CC24-08, effective for sixty days based on the predicted conditions. 

The Ban may be extended or rescinded based on changes in the fire weather conditions. 

Those orders can be found on the county webpage, https://www.co.coryell.tx.us/. Remember that outdoor burning is always prohibited in Copperas Cove. 

There are currently 122 counties in Texas with Burn Bans in place, including the surrounding counties of Lampasas, Bell, McLennan, Mills, Comanche, and San Saba to name a few.

For the most part, in Coryell County and the surrounding areas, the Fuel Dryness Model indicates normal conditions for this time of year, but we still have a moderately forecasted fire danger. 

The Drought Severity Index (Palmer) still depicts Extreme Drought. The Keetch-Byram Drought Index is a calculated index that measures the drought and flammability of organic material in the ground. 

Coryell County is currently indicated in the 600 - 700 range with the highest being 800 KBDI. The next report will be out today, so we will have to see if conditions have improved. 

Saturday, August 17th, Copperas Cove FD, Evant VFD, and Gatesville VFD responded to a fast-moving grass fire on Harmon Road, and they spent about 4 hours in the extreme heat extinguishing it. 

Throughout the county there have been “controlled” burns in an attempt to maintain property that have gotten out of hand, and they requested the response from the fire department(s). 

Although we still have temperatures in the nineties, the fire risk is still there and with the lack of any deep-seated precipitation, especially for the majority of the county, the threat for grass fires can still be significant. 

Please continue to avoid any activities that could lead to fires starting and report fires immediately. 

The daily chances of scattered storms increase across Central Texas through the weekend and into next week. 

Hopefully, we will receive enough rain to dampen the wildfire probabilities.