Burn Ban In Effect For Cookeville, Gainesboro

The Cookeville Fire Department has issued a burn ban due to dry weather conditions.

Chief Daryl Blair said he will not be issuing any burn permits until further notice.

“It will be in effect until we can get some significant rain to come in, and only mother nature knows when that will be here,” Blair said. “With the recent and current dry conditions, we thought that would be the safe thing to do because of the citizens of our city and everyone else. Our top priority is to keep everyone safe.”

Blair said citizens should consider using propane gas when grilling outside and be be extra careful when using lawn equipment.

“I would caution people on grilling. You might look at an alternative if you do charcoal, which I know the charcoal flavor is a whole lot better than propane, but the propane you can control,” Blair said. “With the lawn equipment, You can get a backfire that could cause a fire because of how dry it is.”

Any permits issued prior to 8 a.m. Wednesday will be void. Blair said folks can reapply for the permits once he decides to lift the burn ban.

No significant issues have occurred because of the dry weather. Blair said city firemen have responded to a few grass fires over the past few days.

“I know yesterday we had one down off Jefferson,” Blair said. “It appeared to be from a discarded cigarette butt, so if you are a smoker, be careful where you discard your cigarettes.”

The City of Gainesboro also implemented a burn ban Wednesday morning.