It’s been a little under one week since Mississippi officials called for a partial statewide burn ban to be issued in 40 counties, with several more being added to the list days later.
At this time, Oktibbeha and Sunflower counties have been added to the running list of areas under a burn ban, bringing the number of counties included to 44 out of the 82 counties.
Additionally, the Mississippi Fire Commission (MFC) has activated its Incident Management Team in the case of wildfires. The burn ban comes as parts of Mississippi have not seen measurable rain in over a month.
“Much of the state is experiencing significant drought conditions,” Reeves said. “With the current drought conditions and little rainfall in the forecast, we are taking action now to protect the public. The state of Mississippi will continue to monitor conditions and respond as needed.”
Under the burn ban, outdoor burning of any kind is prohibited in the listed counties. Anyone caught violating the ban can be fined and held responsible for any damages caused by a fire.
Here’s the current list of counties that are under a burn ban:
- Adams
- Amite
- Claiborne
- Clarke
- Copiah
- Covington
- Forrest
- Franklin
- George
- Greene
- Hancock
- Harrison
- Hinds
- Issaquena
- Jackson
- Jasper
- Jefferson Davis
- Jefferson
- Jones
- Lamar
- Lauderdale
- Lawrence
- Lincoln
- Madison
- Marion
- Newton
- Oktibbeha (expires 9/23) – Commercial contractors with heavy construction equipment are exempt
- Pearl River
- Perry
- Pike
- Rankin
- Scott
- Sharkey
- Simpson
- Smith
- Stone
- Sunflower (expires 8/21) – Mississippi Forestry Commission, certified burn managers, county fire services, commercial contractors with heavy construction equipment, and agricultural field burns are exempt
- Walthall
- Warren
- Wayne
- Wilkinson
- Yazoo
