BATON ROUGE, La. (WGNO) — One of the greatest dangers for us right now is still the wildfires in hot and dry conditions, officials say. Governor John Bel Edwards says despite some rain this week, it is not enough to stop the fires.
According to Edwards, in August, there have been 520 fires in Louisiana. That’s almost the number of fires in an entire year, with most being in the southwestern part of the state.
More than 50,000 acres have burned, and 1,200 firefighters have been fighting the blazes like the Tiger Island Fire.
Edwards and fire officials say weather conditions are not helping.
“There’s literally hundreds of hot spots that are still smoldering. Just because there’s been a little precipitation many people think the drought is over and that they can continue to do behavior as normal, but that’s not the case. We still have a severe drought,” Edwards said.
Commissioner Mike Strain with the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry said, “We cannot allow this burn ban to be dropped. We must adhere to this.”
WGNO Meteorologist Brantly Keiek says the winds are picking up and could gust up to 25 miles per hour in the next few days.
“Those winds will help increase any fire that would get started. Along with winds, drier air and lower humidity will help spread fires very quickly,” Keiek said.
“We can’t make it rain. We can’t change the wind,” Edwards said.
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