Fireworks caution required as temperatures heat up, vegetation dries down


July 02, 2009
Writer(s): Rod Santa Ana, 956-878-8317,r-santaana@tamu.edu
Kay Ledbetter, 806-677-5600,SKledbetter@ag.tamu.edu

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COLLEGE STATION – Temperatures climbing into triple digits across parts of the state are drying the vegetation down, causing an increase in wildfires and concerns about Fourth of July festivities.

The Texas Forest Service reports it has responded to 61 fires for 1,710 acres in the last seven days, including one large fire that consumed 750 acres in Erath County.

Hot, dry conditions continue to plague extreme South Texas, said Dr. Ruben Saldana, the Texas AgriLife Extension Service district administrator in Weslaco.

“The Lower Rio Grande Valley is in a rainfall deficit for the year,” Saldana said. “There’s no rain in the forecast,and temperatures are predicted to again reach triple digits in some parts of the Valley this Fourth of July weekend.”

Since recording its first triple-digit reading in late February, McAllen has hit or surpassed the 100-degree mark at least a dozen ...

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