HENDERSON COUNTY–Commissioners’ Court of Henderson County discussed burn ban conditions Oct. 11 but decided not to implement an open-fire prohibition with chances of rain in the forecast.
County Fire Marshal Shane Renberg said some counties to the south of Henderson County have implemented a burn ban. He also said Henderson County averaged 587 on the Keetch-Byram Drought Index as of Oct. 10, technically exceeding the 575 threshold for considering a burn ban.
 “Our grassfires have ticked up slightly, we’re at 19 grassfires in the last couple of weeks,” Renberg reported to the court. “None of these are really because we’re just super dry, a lot of it is due to unattended fires and things like that. I haven’t had any lightning fires. I’ve had one vehicle going down the road that started a fire. We’re by no means as bad as we were before last time we had a burn ban but we are starting to get to the point to where we need to have discussions about it.”
The drought index indicated a high of 705 in one portion of Henderson County with a low of 486 in another area. “I would say the majority of the county is actually below the 575 threshold,” Renberg stated.
According to Precinct 3 Commissioner Chuck McHam, “I know I’ve already received several calls wondering if we’re in the burn ban, so I know people have it on their mind.” McHam continued later, “My concern, too, is the pressure we’re putting on some of these fire departments. These guys are volunteers and they’re having to go out and fight these fires, like you said, most of them are unattended fires, that’s just part of it. I think this summer they’ve been under a lot of pressure.”
Renberg responded, ”At a very minimum I think it’s a discussion we need to have and let the public know that we’re talking about it and we’re to that point.”
The fire marshal recommended waiting another week because implementing a burn ban would require fire departments to respond to every fire call, whether the originating fire is out of control or under control. “So it does put more of a strain on them and right now I’m not real concerned about the fire spread and how rapid it spreads because of the fuel load because we did get that rain a while back but if we were at that point right now I’d be jumping up and down saying, ‘Please, we need a burn ban’. I think we could wait.”
The court also approved a request from the district attorney for a $260 reimbursement for COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) insurance coverage to be paid from the district attorney’s Law Enforcement (Seizure) Fund. District Attorney Jenny Palmer told the court the item was a correction from a previous request.
The insurance coverage stems from a 1985 federal law that gives individuals who experience a job loss or other qualifying event the option to continue their current health insurance coverage for a limited time.
In other business, the court:
• Approved a request to spend $4,476.02 from the vending machine reserves to purchase small toolkits for employee Christmas gifts.
• Approved a right-of-way permit for Oncor Electric to replace poles along LBJ Ranch Road, Slaughter Ranch Road, Loving Ranch Road and Key Ranch Loop in the Key Ranch subdivision, located in Precinct 1.
• Approved right-of-way permits for Atmos Energy to bore gas lines on County Roads 3514 and 3520, located in Precinct 3.
• Approved the payment of fiscal year 2022 bills in the amount of $267,601.73.