What happened
James Altgelt, Bastrop County emergency management coordinator, recommended commissioners allow the ban to expire during the meeting.
Altgelt said he, along with the six fire chiefs throughout the county, all agreed that no burn ban extension was necessary.
Some context
Bastrop County's Keetch-Byram Drought Index, or KBDI, climbed from 338 on Aug. 7 to 724 on Nov. 3—the day the Hudson fire sparked.
Since then, the county has received rain, and the KBDI has started trending downward.
The KBDI scale ranges from 0-800, and the Texas A&M Forest Service website explains that any level above 400 indicates a high potential for wildfires with extreme intensity.
For reference, the KBDI on Sept. 4, 2011, the day the Bastrop County Complex Fire ignited, was 789.
Notable quote
"When we last met, the forecast of rain was there, but Mother Nature doesn't always come through with what is forecast," Altgelt said. "Luckily for us, it did."
