The N.C. Forest Service has released Alamance County from a ban on open burning that had been in effect across North Carolina since March due to an elevated risk of forest fires.
On Friday, the state agency formally lifted this prohibition within Alamance and 18 other counties that had remained under the interdict even after the rest of the state was freed from the ban on May 3.
In an official statement on Thursday, Steve Troxler, the state’s commissioner of agriculture, acknowledged that last week’s rains had brought some relief to the dry, windy conditions that gave rise to the ban in the first place.
“With the additional precipitation received this week, fire danger has improved for the western Piedmont, Triad and foothills,” said Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler. “Still, we have a long way to go with drought recovery. While drought alone isn’t a hazardous forest fire condition, it can be a stressor that contributes to fires burning longer, more intensely and being more difficult to control.”
With the restrictions now over, residents who wish to burn brush and other vegetative matter must reapply with their local authorities for the appropriate permit. Permits that had predated the ban were automatically cancelled with the statewide prohibition on March 28.
