Gov. Henry Removes Northwestern Okla., Metro Areas From Burn Ban

Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry has lifted a month-old statewide burn ban for about half the state, saying rainfall in recent weeks had helped relieve wildfire dangers.

Henry’s order lifted burn prohibitions in much of northwestern Oklahoma and the Oklahoma City and Tulsa metropolitan areas but kept the ban in place in 39 counties where rainfall has been sparse, including much of southeastern Oklahoma.

“Oklahoma is still in the midst of the worst drought in state history, and I will not hesitate to expand the burn ban if it is needed to protect lives and property,” the governor said.

Henry issued a statewide burn ban for all 77 counties on Aug. 2 while the state was experiencing triple-digit temperatures and firefighters battled dozens of wildfires.

Oklahoma has been under some form of burn ban eight of the last 11 months. Henry said he modified the burn ban based on the advice of agricultural, forestry and emergency management officials.

A spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Civil Emergency Management, Michelann Ooten, said her agency had received no reports of wildfires in the state since mid-August.

“That’s very good news,” Ooten said.

Jack Carson, spokesman for the state Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, said that although there has been rainfall in parts of the state, it is not enough to ease the effects of the statewide drought. Farmers and ranchers have been hard hit by the lack or rainfall, including a shortage of hay for cattle, Carson said.

The Agriculture Department said fire danger remains high in the 39 counties that remain under the burn ban. Outdoor burning is prohibited in those counties.

“Oklahomans must still use common sense and exercise extreme caution when they are involved with any type of outdoor burning,” the governor said.

The counties remaining under the burn ban are: Atoka, Bryan, Carter, Cherokee, Choctaw, Cleveland, Coal, Comanche, Cotton, Craig, Delaware, Garfield, Garvin, Grant, Haskell, Hughes, Jefferson, Johnston, Latimer, Leflore, Love, Marshall, McCurtain, McIntosh, McClain, Murray, Muskogee, Okmulgee, Okfuskee, Osage, Pawnee, Payne, Pittsburg, Pottawatomie, Pushmataha, Pontotoc, Seminole, Sequoyah and Stephens counties.

Exemptions to the burn ban include low-risk activities such as charcoal and gas grilling. Carson said occupations such as welding can also earn exemptions, provided tradesmen follow specific protections outlined by the Department of Agriculture.

Violations of the ban are misdemeanors punishable by as much as a $500 fine and one-year imprisonment.