Statewide burn ban modified, now up to parishes
Published 4:34 pm Wednesday, September 27, 2023
- Engineers with the Louisiana Army National Guard’s 527th Engineer Battalion, 225th Engineer Brigade work to aid the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry in clearing and widening current firebreaks to help prevent the spread of wildfires near Merryville. (U.S. Army National Guard Photo by Staff Sgt. Noshoba Davis)
The statewide burn ban has been modified to now allow individual parishes to opt out of it and the resumption of some agriculture burning.
The decision was made following consultation among the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, State Fire Marshal’s Office, Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and the National Weather Service.
This modified burn ban order by LDAF Commissioner Mike Strain allows agricultural burning, including but not limited to prescribed burning, to resume except for standing sugarcane. The burning of sugarcane fields is allowed after harvest. LDAF will post updates regarding the burning of standing sugarcane once conditions improve.
The Office of Louisiana State Fire Marshal also modified the statewide burn ban re-issued on Aug. 25 to renew and establish certain exceptions. The active burn ban is being modified in the following ways:
- Provides for individual parishes to opt out of the statewide burn ban.
- Provides for fire chiefs to resume granting burn permissions.
- Provides for certain live fire training to resume with written permission from the SFM.
The SFM modified order goes into effect Friday, Sept. 29, 2023, at 5 p.m. The status of this burn ban order will continue to be reconsidered on a weekly basis.
