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Williamson County Extends Burn Ban

camp fire
Image courtesy Dido http://www.flickr.com/photos/iyadtb/

Williamson County enacted a 30 day burn ban on the first Tuesday in December. That would have expired this week, but dry conditions prompted county commissioners to extend the ban for 60 days.

Here's an explanation of what you can and cannot do:

A person violates this order if he burns any combustible material outside of an enclosure which serves to contain all flames and/or sparks, or orders such burning by others.  The burn ban prohibits the burning of household yard waste, such as leaves, grass, brush and other yard trimmings. It also prohibits burning to clear land of trees, stumps, shrubbery, or other natural vegetation.  This order may be enforced by any duly-commissioned peace officer.

Last month, Governor Perry issued a disaster declaration for all of Central Texas and all but 10 of the 254 counties in the state because they "are currently threatened by extreme fire hazard. Lack of precipitation has dried grass and other vegetation across the state, posing significant fire danger which is expected to continue."

The US Drought monitor reports mostly severe drought conditions in Travis County.

"The drought is mainly because of a lack of rain since September," Lower Colorado River Authority meteorologist Bob Rose told KUT News. "It just kind of shows you how the rain really did turn off since September."

Nathan Bernier is the transportation reporter at KUT. He covers the big projects that are reshaping how we get around Austin, like the I-35 overhaul, the airport's rapid growth and the multibillion dollar transit expansion Project Connect. He also focuses on the daily changes that affect how we walk, bike and drive around the city. Got a tip? Email him at nbernier@kut.org. Follow him on Twitter @KUTnathan.
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