TEXAS, USA — If you have plans this weekend, officials are urging residents to burn responsibly as fire danger in East Texas is on the rise.
In a press release Friday, the Texas A&M Forest Service stated that response numbers have steadily increased within recent weeks, with agency firefighters responding to more than 50 wildfires across East Texas in the first week of October.
Texas A&M Forest Service Wildland Fire Analyst Luke Kanclerz said the mix of dried leaves, twigs, and pine needles provides the ideal fuel bed for fires to ignite.
"Normally in October, we start to see our fire activity decrease in East Texas, we're kind of going against the grain right now," Kanclerz said. "Because of the the drying that's occurred over the past month, and, not to mention the lower relative humidity. That's really allowed the timber lighter fuel to become dry and receptive to fire ignitions."
As a result of increased fire activity, officials with Texas A&M Forest Service raised the State Wildland Fire Preparedness level to level 2.
"The reason we went to a preparedness level 2 is because of the volume of fire activity," Kanclerz explained. "We've seen an uptick over the past few weeks in East Texas particularly."
With winds forecasted to pick up speed this weekend, county officials remain on high alert.
"The last couple of days we have had about two fires get out of control," said Chad Hogue, Smith County Chief Deputy Fire Marshall. "Usually that has to do with [controlled fires] not being watched properly and left unattended."
Smith County is not under a burn ban at this time. Burn bans are determined on a county-by-county basis through local officials. For a list of burn bans across East Texas, visit here.
If a wildfire is spotted, immediately contact local authorities.
