Burn bans lifted, but drought persists

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - More than half the counties in northern Indiana have lifted their open burning bans following recent rains, although experts say that much more steady precipitation is needed to relieve the severe drought conditions faced by most of the state.

Twenty-eight counties have lifted burn bans or allowed them to expire, with the vast majority of them in northern Indiana, according to information posted Wednesday on an Indiana Department of Homeland Security website. Sixty-one of the state's 92 counties still have burn bans in effect. A government report last week showed about 85 percent of the state was facing at least severe drought conditions.

Courtney Obergfell, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Syracuse, said most parts of northern Indiana have received 2 to 5 inches of rain during the last two weeks of July.

"It's enough to green up the grass," and that's enough to ease some concerns, she said. "Grass fires and that aren't as much of a concern once the grass starts to green up and you get a little moisture in the topsoil," she said.

But that only offers short-term relief, Obergfell said.

Purdue University professor Dev Niyogi, Indiana's state climatologist, said just because some areas got rain, it doesn't mean the drought is over. Without persistent heavy rain, the drought will drag on, he said.

"At this point, we are in for a drought. At this point, everything that can be done to manage and sustain for a drought should be done," Niyogi said.

Still, officials in many counties thought the storms that moistened arid yards and farm fields had reduced the fire risk enough to warrant lifting the bans.

The Cass County Commissioners said in a statement posted on the Homeland Security website that they lifted their burn ban on July 24 because they felt that the county had received "significantly enough rainfall to alleviate the immediate threat for large-scale fires from the dry conditions." Commissioners in Fulton County, who lifted their ban the following day, said the area had received enough rain that it was "no longer at risk of severe widespread fire hazard."

Larry Smith, Howard County's emergency management director, said the county's fire chiefs association, which includes chiefs of volunteer departments and the Kokomo fire chief, recommended the county commissioners lift the countywide burn ban, which they did Monday. By then, Kokomo had received 4.52 inches of rain since July 15, said National Weather Service meteorologist Marc Dahmer.

"The volunteer department chiefs said it's safe right now, but if it (the rain) turns off and it stays dry ... they may put it back into effect," Smith said.

A spokeswoman for the Homeland Security agency said the decision to lift a burn ban or let it expire is entirely up to local officials.

"They are in the best position to evaluate the conditions in their area and make appropriate decisions for the individuals in their communities," Emily Norcross said in an email.

Likewise, Obergfell said it wasn't up to the National Weather Service to second-guess local officials.

"It's not really our decision. It's a county by county decision," she said.