Series of Texas Fires Are Deemed Suspicious

Aug. 10--During a week when area fire departments have been pushed to their limits dealing with grass and structure fires, multiple additional blazes were reported to have ignited in Hunt County between late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning.

Hunt County Fire Marshal Richard Hill said at least some of the fires are being investigated as being of suspicious origin.

Meanwhile, all of Hunt County is now listed under severe drought conditions and water use restrictions remain in place as the levels on area lakes continue to drop.

The Texas A&M Forest Service listed Hunt County under a "high" risk of grass and wild fires Friday.

The Cash Volunteer Fire Department responded to suspicious brush fires late Wednesday and early Thursday in the area south of FM 1564 East.

"The three fires which were reported as suspicious are under investigation by the Hunt County Fire Marshal's office," Hill said.

Data for the United States Drought Monitor report had previously indicated that all but the northeast corner of Hunt County was under a severe drought, with the corner listed under moderate drought conditions.

However the latest readings, posted Thursday, note that the entire county is now under a severe drought, with indications some portions are entering extreme drought levels.

The Keetch-Byram Drought Index measures soil moisture. A reading of 800 is the highest on the scale, meaning that it would take eight or more inches of rainfall to bring the soil to saturation.

Friday afternoon, the county's readings under the index ranged from 482 to 706 with an average across the county of 482.

The North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) has implemented Stage 3 outdoor watering restrictions, which means residential and business customers served by the district are limited to landscape watering with sprinkler or irrigation systems once every seven days. Other restrictions apply, depending on the city.

The City of Greenville is currently under Stage 2 water restrictions. Landscape irrigation is limited to Sundays and Thursdays for customers with a street address ending in an even number and Saturdays and Wednesdays for customers with a street address ending in an odd number. Landscape irrigation is permitted at anytime with a hand-held hose, a faucet filled bucket or watering can of five gallons or less, or a drip irrigation system.

The level on Lake Tawakoni, from which the City of Greenville pumps water to help maintain the levels on the municipal reservoir system, was listed at 430.33 feet Friday afternoon, down more than seven feet from the lake's pool elevation of 437.5 feet, but still above the all-time lowest level seen on reservoir -- 424.9 feet -- which was recorded on Dec. 29, 2006.

Although there is no current burn ban in place in Hunt County there are restrictions to outdoor burning. The burning of household trash is permissible, but the wind speed cannot be greater than 23 mph.

Natural materials, such as brush and limbs can be burned, but not treated or painted lumber. No prohibited material -- including but not limited to rubber, plastics, wire, insulation and furniture -- can be burned, and a responsible person must be present during active burning.

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