HENDERSON COUNTY, Texas — As drought continues to plague East Texas, Henderson County Judge Wade McKinney took the unique step of declaring a local state of disaster Thursday afternoon.
"In most recent weeks, our occasion of fires have grown exponentially," McKinney said.
According to the declaration, firefighters have responded to more than 40 fires in this week alone.
"Our first responders that are responding to these fires are reaching their limit," explained McKinney. "These are volunteer organizations. These are individuals with lives, jobs, and families that [have] all put that on hold to help their communities."
According to Wildland Urban Interface Coordination Sean Dugan, The Texas A&M Forest Service, and other organizations work with county officials to determine the level of fuel dryness within the region which helps enact burn bans.
One of the composite statistics used to help determine fuel dryness, known as the "Energy Release Component," has been running high for Henderson County.
"In most of Northeast Texas, we’re at the 97th percentile in our 21-year data set which means we are at the very limit of the data that we have regarding dryness," Dugan said.
The Keetch-Byram Drough Index (KBDI) is used to determine fire potential. According to the declaration, the KBDI reached an extreme level of 712 Thursday. A burn ban is indicated when the KBDI is 575.
Dugan warns that despite Friday's minimal rain, a stretch of hot and dry weather may reverse any minor improvements made to the drought index.
"This moisture will dry out pretty quick," Dugan said. "It will probably take between 5 to 7 days [of dry and hot weather] and we will be right back to where we were at."