Travis County lifts burn ban Jan. 9

The previous burn ban was set to expire Jan. 9.

"If the rain event did not occur, the [previous] burn ban would have expired, and we would have had no ban in place," he said.

The court extended the burn ban to Feb. 6 to err on the side of caution.

The county measures moisture using the Keetch-Byram Drought Index, in which zero represents saturation and 800 represents a complete lack of moisture in the top 8 inches of soil.

Lee reported that the recent rains dropped the county's average drought index from 566 when the court met Jan. 8 to 412 on the morning of Jan. 9.

Lee noted that the index is only one factor that goes into the decision to lift the ban. He had also corresponded with area fire chiefs, who agreed that it was safe to lift the ban.

The Commissioners Court will revisit the issue during its Jan. 15 meeting.