With little rainfall over the past few days, outdoor burning remains prohibited for most of Texoma.

All of our Texas counties remain under burn bans except for Fannin and Cooke.

Oklahoma remains under a statewide burn ban issued by Governor Mary Fallin shortly after wildfires devastated parts of the Sooner State.

Today, Fallin added exemptions to that ban for extreme hardship and for agricultural burning. Both require written approval in order to burn.

Under the amended burn ban, theadditional two exemptions added are:

Extreme Hardship – Upon written approval of the State Forester, individuals may be approved to conduct controlled burns on their property due to extreme hardship caused by unusual or extenuating circumstances while their county is under the Governor’s Ban on Outdoor Burning. No exemptions will be granted for camp fires, normal burning of brush piles, accumulation of leaves in yards or brush piles in yards, or household trash. Each situation will be evaluated for need and may be granted in those cases where there are no other alternatives available.

Agricultural Burning – Upon written approval (using Form AG-2012-01) of their local fire chief, and submitting the completed form to Oklahoma Forestry Services, individuals may conduct controlled burning necessary for agriculture production. The burn must be part of the actual agriculture management operations and conducted within specific minimum guidelines.

“Conditions are being reviewed daily,” said State Forester George Geissler. “Though there have been slight improvements in pockets of the state, the extreme drought conditions persist and any fire that starts has the potential to burn very intensely.”

For more specifics related to the exemptions and the appropriate forms, visit www.forestry.ok.gov/burn-ban-information or call (580) 236-1021.