Burn Bans Split Forest Country as Drought Settles In the North

By Bobbie Langston
Lee Miller, Publisher | (936) 674-5912

Tropical Storm Edouard came ashore at the beginning of the month and soaked the southern half of Forest Country. It mostly missed the northern half. Three weeks later, that split runs right through the middle of our twelve counties, and you can read it in the burn ban map.

Where things stood Friday

As of the Texas A&M Forest Service’s September 18 statewide file, six of our counties had active burn bans: Nacogdoches, Sabine, San Augustine, Houston, Shelby and Trinity. Statewide, 217 of Texas’ 254 counties were under one.

Three counties lifted theirs in early September, each citing rain from Edouard. Angelina rescinded September 4. Polk rescinded September 3 in emergency session, ending its disaster declaration along with the ban. Newton rescinded September 2.

Tyler, Jasper and San Jacinto had no ban in the September 18 file.

Check before you burn. Burn bans in this region change constantly, and posted information lags. Shelby County alone has switched its ban on and off nine times this year — off September 9, back on September 17. Several counties here use seven-day disaster declarations that lapse unless the commissioners court renews them. Call your county judge’s office. Do not rely on a website, including this one.

The drought line runs between Lufkin and Center

The U.S. Drought Monitor map released September 17 shows how uneven the rain was. Shelby County has 34 percent of its area in severe drought. Nacogdoches has 22 percent. At the other end, Tyler County is 92 percent free of any drought category and Polk is 83 percent free.

No county in the region is in extreme or exceptional drought.

The fire numbers tell a harder story. The Keetch-Byram Drought Index measures how dry the soil is on a scale of 0 to 800. Above 400, the Forest Service says lower litter and duff layers burn actively and larger fuels can smolder for days. Above 600 means deep-burning fires at extreme intensity.

As of September 20, every one of our twelve counties averaged above 400. Shelby averaged 711 and Sabine 686 — both in the top band. And every county’s reading rose in the previous 24 hours, which means none of them got the rain it would take to move the number the other way.

What a burn ban actually prohibits

Texas counties ban outdoor burning under one of two laws. A Local Government Code ban can run up to 90 days. A disaster declaration under the Government Code lasts seven days unless renewed. Either way, violating one is a Class C misdemeanor carrying a fine up to $500.

State law exempts firefighter training, utility and pipeline work, agricultural planting and harvesting, and burns run by a certified prescribed burn manager. National forest land is exempt too, which matters across this region.

Cooking is where people get caught. There is no statewide rule, and our counties do not agree with each other. Some exempt cooking devices with a closeable lid. Some exempt propane and cooking fires under controlled conditions. Shelby County’s current order exempts neither — it prohibits all outdoor burning in unincorporated areas, period, with an exception only for federal agencies.

A grill that is fine in one county can be a citation one county line over.

Also worth knowing: county bans cover unincorporated areas only. Cities issue their own.

It is already happening

A wildfire in the Davy Crockett National Forest in Houston County burned 1,314 acres on September 13. Statewide, the Forest Service responded to 313 wildfires covering 121,774 acres in August alone, and has put Texas at preparedness level 3. The National Forests in Texas currently list fire danger as extreme.

Burn ban status from the Texas A&M Forest Service file dated September 18, 2026. Drought figures from the U.S. Drought Monitor map valid September 15. Soil dryness readings dated September 20. Conditions change daily — confirm with your county before burning anything.