Burn ban called off after week of rain

Commissioners decide burning can resume if residents adhere to rules.

It appeared to be an easy decision to rescind Bastrop County’s burn ban last week, after 5 to 6 inches of rain fell across the county in the first two weeks of September.

The Bastrop County Commissioners Court held a special meeting Sept. 13 that lasted no longer than a minute — with the sole item on the agenda being the status of the burn ban.

On that cloudy Thursday morning, after seven straight days of rain in one part of the county or another, a unanimous vote by the court repealed the burn ban that had been in place since July 20.

“Thank God for the rain,” Bastrop County Judge Paul Pape said following the swift vote.

By Sept. 13, the county had seen rain nine out of the first 13 days of the month. As of Monday, 6.5 inches of rain had fallen around Rockne, 6 inches in Elgin, 5.5 inches in Bastrop and 6 inches in Smithville, according to data from the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network, which provides data to the National Weather Service.

The rainfall helped lift the county out of “moderate” drought and into the category marked as “abnormally dry,” the lowest marker on the scale, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

“I think lifting the ban was a good thing at this time, so residents who will burn can at least do it more safely,” said Heart of the Pines Fire Chief Mizzy Zdroj. “If conditions deteriorate, and we hit a dry spell, the chiefs and (the Bastrop County office of emergency management) will request that the court consider putting it back in place.”

Zdroj also said that because Bastrop County has historically been prone to fire throughout the year — the 2011 Complex Fire ignited in early September, and the 2015 Hidden Pines Fire burned through October — she hopes residents will adhere to state outdoor burning laws.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality prohibits leaving any outdoor fire unattended, igniting anything that would create excess smoke or toxic fumes, and burning trash or waste created by a business.