ST. MARTIN PARISH — St. Martin Parish is under a burn ban, joining multiple parishes across Acadiana as fire officials warn that dry, windy conditions are creating dangerous fire conditions capable of spreading quickly.
St. Martin Parish Fire Chief Brody Miller said the decision to implement the ban came after officials closely monitored weather patterns and met with parish leaders to weigh the risk.
"The burn ban comes into effect when we start noticing an increase in certain weather patterns when high fire dangers or high winds are gonna be in the area, we sit down with parish officials and we discuss a plan," Miller said.
A rise in grass fires also factored into the decision, "and also look at our call volume which we've been having a number of since Sunday quite a few number of grass fires that have happened," Miller said.
Miller said it does not take much for a fire to spread under current conditions.
"With the high winds and outside burning, it could really send anything as simple as a small ember to anything, grass or other areas or buildings, anything like that," Miller said.
When fires do break out, Miller said response time and access are critical. "If we are responding we have specialized vehicles that allow us to get off road and go into fields and kind of go around areas to put the fires out," Miller said.
While the burn ban is in place, outdoor cooking and agricultural burning that follows state mandates are still permitted. However, Miller urged residents to take precautions.
Miller said anyone cooking outside must supervise their grill at all times and keep it off the ground to prevent embers from igniting dry grass.
"If you are gonna cook outside, definitely monitor the barbecue grills the entire time; if the winds are gonna be anywhere to 10mph or higher I would highly recommend not barbecuing," Miller said.
Miller furthers that the department is monitoring conditions day by day and staying in close contact with parish government and the Office of Homeland Security to determine when the burn ban can be lifted.
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