Despite dry conditions, no burn ban issued for Tulsa County

With several acres already burned in Oklahoma this year, many are wondering what criteria are followed in issuing a burn ban.

There are two main ways burn bans get issues. The first, the governor can declare a burn ban after consulting with the state forestry service. The governor can do so for part of or all of the state.

Oklahoma Forestry Services bases its recommendations on the amount of fires that were intentional, but got out of control. That would be like someone burning brush and the wind carried it out of control. Weather is also considered in this decision.

Michael Willis with Tulsa County tells KRMG there are several steps to issuing a burn ban at the county level.

The county starts by having the emergency management agency decide if drought conditions are bad enough to consider a ban. Then, if the drought is bad enough and there is no rain in the forecast, the county will take a poll of all fire chiefs in the county and use their feedback to determine if a ban is needed.

If the majority of those fire chiefs recommend a ban, the county commissioners will vote on the issue.