BY RITA COOK / Freelance Writer

 

ELLIS COUNTY – The Ellis County Commissioners took no action on an agenda item to approve a countywide burn ban.

It was pointed out what a difference the last 10 days made for the county, which was when the item was placed on the agenda.

At the time the ban was requested the county was at 635 and last week it was down to 415.

Often the numbers are determined by the Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI) used by the Texas Forest Service to relate recent and current weather conditions to expected fire behavior.

The KBDI also allows local governments to better understand the impact of drought conditions.

The higher the KBDI number the higher the fire risk due to lower fuel moisture.

The idea is to leave the burn ban request on the agenda and consider it as necessary.

Ellis County Judge John Wray said, “Given the time of year I know things can dry up pretty quickly, so we will just leave it on.”