By Kevin Jefferies
Rains County – Rains County Commissioners officially enacted a 90-day outdoor burn ban for all unincorporated areas of the county last week. The county had been under an emergency burn ban, but the commissioner's court met in special session to extend the ban last Monday. Continued drought conditions make the area ripe for wildfires. The cities of East Tawakoni, Emory, and Point also have resolutions that make any county-wide burn bans also effective within the city limits. Violators can be charged with a Class C misdemeanor and fined up to $500.
Rains County joins 130 other Texas counties to have issued burn bans. With the exception of Harrison and Panola counties, all of Northeast Texas is under active burn bans.