Gov. Edwards Issues Executive Order Suspending All Prescribed Burns
BATON ROUGE, La. – Today, Gov. John Bel Edwards signed an executive order suspending all prescribed burns in Louisiana including those used for forest, agricultural and coastal land management as the state continues to battle hundreds of fires throughout Louisiana due to the extreme drought.
The executive order is effective immediately and is in addition to the current burn ban.
Everyone should note there is no exception to the burn ban for any reason.
It remains in place until further notice.
As of August 24, there have been more than 440 fires that have either damaged or destroyed more than 30,000 acres of land including the wildfires in Beauregard Parish.
“Right now, our state is facing a very dangerous and unpredictable situation with lots of fires burning statewide, and we cannot afford to have any exceptions to the current burn ban,” said Gov. Edwards.
“Under normal conditions, prescribed burning is intended to be used as a land management tool, but these are not normal conditions and they are compounding the existing threat of wildfires due to the severe heat and drought we’re experiencing.
Embers from a fire that has been put out can be blown miles away and flare up again in another area, which is why we need everyone focused on efforts to prevent more fires.
They will tax the same firefighters and emergency responders who are working hard to extinguish the blazes that are currently threatening lives and property.
While we don’t know how long we will be in this situation, we do know that by adhering to the burn ban we can lessen the chances of any other fires from starting.”
The State Fire Marshal and Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry issued a statewide burn ban on August 7 due to the extreme heat and dry conditions. Gov.
Edwards declared a statewide emergency on August 11.
Click the link below to see the proclamation.
Governor’s Burn Ban Proclamation
For more information contact: Prescott Marshall
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