Wildfires continue to be a major threat for many parts of North Texas. In Johnson County, authorities said they've seen 60 fires in just two weeks, about three fires a day.
"Since Aug. 1, we've had 58 Illegal burns, so people are still burning, whether it be burning leaves or whatever they might be out burning trash, for example, they're still doing that. And unfortunately, many of those have turned into grass fires that the departments have had to respond to," said Jaime Moore, the emergency management director for Johnson County.
He told the commissioner's court on Monday that the statistics he prepared for them were already outdated because over the weekend there were 12 grass fires, including eight on Sunday.
"So we've been trying to encourage people please observe the burn ban recognize the critical wildland fire danger that we're in and don't give us another reason to have to have a fire in this county," explained Moore. "Since August 1, we've had over 60 wildland fires here in the county and that's a significant number, I mean, just two weeks to have 60 fires that's almost three a day."
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Earlier this month, the 'Double Back Fire' which started in Godley, burned for days in Johnson County. More than 1,300 acres were damaged and three structures were destroyed.
On Monday, the Johnson County Sheriff told NBC 5 they determined what sparked the fire and said someone welding with a cutting torch on a metal fence started the blaze which significantly grew.
That person was given a citation, according to the sheriff.
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Moore said while the obvious dry grass is fuel for a wildfire. He said the trees and plants may look green. For example, Live Oaks and Junipers have low moisture inside and will burn if there is a fire.
"Although we received a little bit of rain yesterday, and that was unbelievably great, that doesn't limit the wildland fire danger. In two days all wildland fire danger will be exactly what it was prior to getting that two-tenths of an inch or a half an inch of rain that you might have gotten," explained Moore.
"So it's important to recognize a little bit of rain unfortunately is not going to get us out of this drought. We’re going to the weeks of appreciable rainfall for it to have an impact on a wildland fire danger and unfortunately, we don't see that in the forecast," he continued.
The Johnson County burn ban is in effect through Oct. 8.
According to the order, outdoor burning is prohibited. That includes any activities that "dispense, emits, explodes, detonates, throws off or otherwise, delivers any spark or fire to, or in the area of any combustible material including, but not limited to trash, debris, agriculture products, leaves, paper unless such material is wholly enclosed in a receptacle adequate to contain all such flames and/or sparks."
The sheriff's office didn't have an exact number but said they've issued several citations to people for not following the burn ban.
Violating the burn ban is a Class C misdemeanor and a person could face up to $500 in fines.
