The Tippah County burn ban no longer appears on the Mississippi Forestry Commission’s statewide list of county burn bans. The commission’s county map showed Tippah and Benton counties shaded red, meaning a ban was in place, as late as the morning of Tuesday, Nov. 3. By its Nov. 4 update both counties were off the list, and the latest map, posted Monday evening, Nov. 9, still shows them clear.
That is an update to our Oct. 22 report. At that time the Tippah County Board of Supervisors had put a 30-day countywide ban in place starting Oct. 21, set to run through Nov. 21. The Forestry Commission map now shows that ban is no longer listed, about two weeks early. Tippah News has not yet seen a written county order explaining when or why it ended. We will update this story if supervisors release one.
Tippah County Burn Ban Status on the State Map
The Forestry Commission’s map reflects the bans that counties report to the state. Here is how the Tippah News coverage area and its neighbors look on the Nov. 9 update:
Not shown under a ban: Tippah, Benton, Union, Alcorn, Prentiss and Lafayette
Still under a county burn ban: Marshall, Tishomingo, Pontotoc and Lee, along with dozens of counties in central and south Mississippi
Lafayette County, which was red on the Oct. 21 map, has also dropped off the list. Union, Alcorn and Prentiss were not under bans in October either.
Anyone who owns land or burns debris across a county line should check the map first. A brush pile in Tippah County may be fine to burn, but the same pile a few miles west in Marshall County, or south in Pontotoc County, is still covered by a ban.
Burning Is Allowed, but Conditions Still Matter
A county burn ban being lifted doesn’t make every day a good day to burn. North Mississippi is heading into a cold, dry stretch. The National Weather Service expects a hard freeze in Tippah County on Saturday morning, and dead leaves and grass that have been killed by frost dry out fast and catch easily.
Some common-sense steps before striking a match:
Check the Forestry Commission’s burn ban page at mfc.ms.gov the day you plan to burn, since counties can add a ban at any time
Avoid burning on windy, low-humidity afternoons
Keep piles small and well away from homes, barns, fences and woods
Have water, a rake or a shovel close by, and never leave a fire unattended
Make sure the fire is fully out, not just smoldering, before you leave it
Call 911 right away if a fire gets away from you
Larger burns, such as land clearing or prescribed burns on timber or pasture, carry their own rules. Landowners can find details and contact the Forestry Commission through its website.
Why Bans Come and Go
Tippah County has gone back and forth on burning rules this fall. Supervisors let an earlier ban expire Oct. 18, then put a new one in place Oct. 21 as dry weather continued. Since then, several neighboring counties, including Lafayette, Itawamba and Monroe, have also come off the state list.
A burn ban gives volunteer fire departments some relief during dry spells, when grass and woods fires pull firefighters away from homes and jobs. If dry weather returns, the board can vote to reinstate a ban, so residents should keep checking the state map instead of relying on old notices.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
