FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 15, 2017
Governor Mary Fallin Lifts Burn Ban
OKLAHOMA CITY - Due to significant rainfall that moved
across the state, Governor Mary Fallin today signed an executive proclamation removing a
burn ban she ordered for 53 counties. The governor issued the burn ban on
Friday because of extreme dry and weather conditions; rains moved across the
state Monday and Tuesday.
The governor removed the ban at the recommendation of Oklahoma
Forestry Services (OFS), which conducted an analysis of the impact of the
rainfall in the affected counties. The removal of the governor’s burn ban has
no effect on county burn bans that were in place. OFS is contacting those
counties to confirm which bans will remain or be rescinded.
“Individual counties can utilize more localized data,
conditions and fire occurrence to decide if burn bans are called for on a
county level,” said Fallin.
In
the counties no longer covered by the governor-proclaimed burn ban, citizens
are urged to check with local officials or visit www.forestry.ok.gov/burn-ban-information to
see if county burn bans have been enacted before doing any type of burning.
“The rainfall had a positive impact on the larger forest
fuels such as branches and fallen trees, but our light grassy fuels will dry
out quickly and will still carry fire,” said George Geissler, Oklahoma state forester. “We are still in our winter fire season, and
in the absence of spring green-up we could find ourselves right back in high
fire danger within a week or so. The rain just gave firefighters a break from
the extreme fire behavior that necessitated the burn ban.”
OFS, a
division of the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, asks
residents to report any suspicious smoke or fire to the nearest fire department
immediately.
Oklahoma Forestry Services is
the state’s lead agency related to wildland fire prevention and protection. For
additional information about wildfires, visit
www.forestry.ok.gov/wildfire-information.
Note to Media:
For the latest Oklahoma “Daily Wildfire Situation Report”
visit www.forestry.ok.gov and click the link on
the homepage (green box on right hand side.) The report contains information
about recent fire activity, predicted fire weather and a link for current burn
bans.
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