Ag commish: Statewide burn ban still in effect

Louisiana State Fire Marshal Butch Browning, in conjunction with the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain, imposed a statewide ban on private burning Oct. 3 in response to increased reports of fire by local fire departments.

“We look at the conditions being dry and we started seeing some dry conditions in spotty parts of the state,” Browning said about the process of imposing the ban. “Eventually, within a three-week period it became statewide. But secondary to that, we started receiving reports from local fire departments of unusual amounts of reported fires to them.”

The state fire marshal said the amount of wild landfires increased from 56 over a 30-day period in 2009 to 407 over the same period in 2010, a jump of 726 percent.

LDAF crews suppressed 23 fires that burned 111.58 acres Oct. 7 and since Oct. 1, they have suppressed 189 wildfires that burned 3,588 acres, according to a LDAF press release.

“The cause of most of these fires were people leaving rubbish fires unattended,” Browning said. “That’s really what we look for, an increase in fire responses by the fire departments.”

The cease and desist order will remain in effect until rescinded by Browning and his office. He estimated that it would last another couple of weeks and would take “two to three days of significant rain to saturate the ground and to stop the drying out of the vegetation across the state.”

Browning said his office will keep in touch with weather officials to gauge the length of the ban.

In the meantime, private burning shall only be allowed with permission of the local fire department or local government. People who violate the ban are subject to a $1,000 administrative fine for violation of the fire marshal’s order.

The LDAF, people trained by the LDAF and those who conduct prescribed burning as a “generally accepted agriculture practice” as defined by the Louisiana Right to Farm Law are not affected by the ban.