SMITH COUNTY (KYTX) - A warning to you from the Texas Forest Service about burning in the current weather conditions. Crews spent the whole day battling grass fires across East Texas.
The cold front has brought strong winds and a huge drop in humidity, and that makes for perfect fire conditions.
"As you can tell, not a good time to be burning!" says Winona Fire Chief Nelson Brumley, who worked a number of fires burning out of control all across Smith County Sunday. He says the weather fueled the flames.
"The cold front that just went through, the humidity dropped to 28 percent this morning," Brumley said.
He says Sunday's quick moving fires were fueled not only by the dry weather, but the strong winds.
"Everybody was burning yesterday because it was nice and calm, well today caught up and it's a mess."
It was mainly a mess because this fire threatened homes nearby. One brush fire on County Road 3102 in Winona came feet away from one person's property.
Larae and Candy Taylor live right down the road, and saw just how fast the fire moved.
"We come up there and we saw just a little bit of smoke and we turned around to get the tractor and by the time we got back, it jumped the road," Candy said.
Local firefighters say the grass may look green, but underneath is dry, brown, brush, which is from last year's drought.
The Taylors notice the same trend every time the summer heat dies down.
"More fires," they say, "lots more fires."
That's why Brumley is warning East Texans not to burn when conditions aren't right.
"People need to be very careful. Pay attention to the weather, pay attention to the humidity, know when the best time to burn is, and keep everybody around and watch it. Do not leave it unattended period. End of story," he says.
By taking precautions, you're keeping yourself, your land, and your community safe.
If you're not sure whether you should burn on a certain day because of weather conditions, call your local fire department or the Fire Marshall and ask their opinion.
