County declares local disaster, enacts emergency burn ban

Due to recent drought and dry conditions, Young County has declared a local disaster and enacted an emergency burn ban, prohibiting all outdoor burning.

Young County Judge Win Graham signed an official declaration order Thursday, Oct. 10 for the burn ban, which will be active for a period of not more than seven days.

The burn ban was enacted due to drought and extremely dry conditions over the past several days, which has resulted in multiple fires becoming active in different areas of the county.

According to the order, Judge Graham “determined that extraordinary measures must be taken to mitigate such threat to the people and to protect property.” A violation of this order is a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not to exceed $500.

The county had been in a burn ban from Monday, July 8 through Monday, Sept. 23. At their meeting Sept. 23, the commissioners rescinded the ban but explained the possibility of reinstating the ban.

As of Thursday, Oct. 10, Young County has a “Moderate” fire danger level according to Texas A&M Forest Service, but that rating is projected to move up to “High” by Saturday, Oct. 12.