Burn ban initiated for Henderson County

Henderson County Commissioners Court instituted a 14-day burn ban Tuesday morning. (Video below)

Henderson County Fire Marshal Shane Renberg told commissioners the county’s average Keetch-Byram Drought Index score is 601. A burn ban is recommended when the KBDI score is above 575.

"I would suggest that we put a burn ban in because we are over that threshold," he told commissioners, "and because we're not going to see any significant rain in the next 10 days."

Commissioners and the Fire Marshal also discussed the fuel load, which is the amount of combustible material in the county.

"With that heavy fuel load laying over the top of those dryer conditions it is just conducive to more and more fires," said County Judge Wade McKinney.

The burn ban was approved unanimously.

Ignoring the burn ban is a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by a fine up to $500.