Scurry County Commissioners ended the countywide ban on outdoor burning during a special meeting Thursday morning.
The commissioners voted to rescind the ban starting Friday, for at least 12 days. When the court meets again, Aug. 18, they will revisit the issue.
“We have several ranchers who are needing to burn some brush piles before the snakes can get into them,” Fire Marshal Nathan Hines said during the meeting.
Hines said he and Fire Chief Perry Westmoreland discussed the issue and are in agreement that lifting the ban, instituted June 23, is a good idea right now. That said, Hines suggested waiting until Friday to allow burning.
“I know today’s probably not a good day to do it, wind’s supposed to blow 20 miles per hour,” he said. “But the amount of rain that we got, it’s greened up and we can see how things go. If it starts drying out again, we can put it back.”
Hines urged county residents to exercise caution when burning.
“Make sure you have an area cleared off and a way cleared out,” he said. “At this point I think it’s okay, just use caution.”
The burn ban was the only item of business on the meeting’s agenda.