A two-week-old ban on outdoor burning in Tallahatchie County was allowed to expire at midnight Wednesday night.
Tallahatchie County Fire Coordinator Linnie Maples said Tuesday afternoon that the burn ban could be reissued if the area did not receive rain, but a cold front that moved through the area late Wednesday night into early Thursday did bring widespread rain.
The ban was implemented Sept. 28 due to low daytime humidity levels, dry fuels and winds that the National Weather Service said made for a heightened fire spread risk.
At Maples’ request, the Tallahatchie County Board of Supervisors had asked the Mississippi Forestry Commission to enact the burn ban.
At the time, Tallahatchie was one of only a handful of counties in the state to have an outdoor burn ban in place.
By Oct. 4, the number had increased to 11 counties. As of Oct. 11, a burn ban had been issued in 20 counties.
In other news:
» Maples said Tuesday afternoon that the State Fire Marshal’s Office had not yet made public a ruling on the cause of the Sept. 30 fire that inflicted heavy damage on the Dollar General store in Webb.
The fire is “still under investigation,” Maples noted shortly after contacting the state office for an update.
The fire was initially reported about 1 p.m. on Sept. 30 and rekindled about 7:30 p.m.
Firefighters from seven volunteer fire departments in Tallahatchie County battled the blaze at one time or another.
The few people who were in the store were able to escape without injury.
In a statement on Oct. 3, Dollar General corporate public relations staff said a damage assessment would be conducted before a decision could be made about future plans for the store, which opened in April 2009.
