Ongoing hot and dry weather sparks a great chance for spot fires to start.

Jessie Bellard, St. Landry Parish president, spoke on why this burn ban was issued.

“We were getting some calls from the fire departments in our parish,” Bellard said. “We had been putting it off because we were hoping for rain. We do have some rain in some areas but not nearly enough to cover the ground that we need.”

Bellard said farmers will be excluded from the ban since they have more experience burning fires.

“These farmers can have an exemption because they take the proper precautions,” Bellard said. “If they gotta burn a field or something they have plywood and they know what they’re doing when it comes to that. We just wanna make sure that we regulate those people that can, not just go burn anything.”

Bellard believed this ban will help firefighters and stop more fires from starting in the future.

“We wanna make sure that our firefighters are kept hydrated and make sure they understand that we’re here for them,” Bellard said. “If we can stop these fires from starting, it’s gonna definitely help them with their shift.”

Bellard said this ban will reduce the amount of fire calls they receive due to hot conditions in the parish.

The ban will be in effect until further notice.