East Texas (KLTV) – Dozens of grass fires across East Texas have prompted three county judges to enact burn bans in their respective counties.
Burn bans have been enacted in Harrison and Panola counties until Thursday, and Rusk County until Friday, January 9. Panola County Judge Rodger McLane also declared a state of emergency and Ruck County Judge Joel Hale declared a local disaster for their respective counties.
Shelby County is also under a burn ban, effective Jan. 1 for the next seven days.
County officials in Gregg, Smith and Rusk counties are strongly urging residents to refrain from all types of outdoor burning due to the dry and windy weather conditions.
A two-and-a-half-minute video shows bulldozer teams battle wildfires on County Road 334 in Smith County.
On Friday, the Texas A&M Forest Service’s incident viewer showed 38 fires burning across 545.9 acres throughout East and Central Texas.
“We are asking residents to avoid burning and outdoor grilling, no fireworks, and no disposing of cigarettes or like-products (sic) in grass,” a spokesperson wrote on the Smith County Emergency Services District 2 Facebook page.
As of noon Friday, there were no active fires in Smith County, the spokesperson wrote.
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