Please don't barbecue for Labor Day while Louisiana battles wildfires, governor says

The Tiger Island wildfire burns trees near Merryville in Beauregard Parish in August 2023. The fire, which had charred more than 16,000 acres this week, forced the evacuation of Merryville and nearby communities.

With Labor Day, football season and hunting seasons approaching, now is a time when many in Louisiana light up their grills.

But as wildfires spread across the state, including one of the largest fires Louisiana has ever seen, Gov. John Bel Edwards is urging residents — particularly those who live near dry grass, forests or other places where fires can start — to avoid cooking with open flames.

"Let’s be patient and not create more work for firefighters in Louisiana," Edwards said at a news conference Wednesday. "We need to prevent what is already a serious situation from becoming worse."

Edwards said the National Guard has 452 service members engaged in helping fight fires. Crews from seven different states are 10 different missions, and firefighters from around Louisiana are helping southwest Louisiana, where the biggest blazes are burning.

With continued high temperatures and a lack of rain, state officials urged residents to adhere to a statewide burn ban.

Commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry Mike Strain said his agency issued 20 citations for violating the burn ban, and gave 20 more the day before. He described the drought conditions as "unlike anything I've seen in my lifetime."

"We need 3 to 4 inches of rain. The ground is dry through the first 12 inches. It's literally a tinderbox," Strain said. "The message is real simple: Do not light that match. For any reason."

Louisiana State Fire Marshal Dan Wallis said some firefighters are facing flames that are 300 feet tall. He urged anyone who gets an evacuation order to take it seriously, because "there's a very good possibility you won't be able to outrun the flames."

"We’re asking: don’t burn anything. Do not use any type of open flame outside. Think of alternatives," Wallis said. "Think of situations where you may patronize local businesses if you’re having a bbq, having a tailgate, buy prepackaged party packs. Purchase flameless candles."

August's triple-digit temperatures and the strongest drought on record exacerbated the fires, which have burned through an estimated 60,000 acres of land and killed two people. There have been nearly 600 wildfires this month.

The Tiger Island wildfire in Beauregard Parish, which has been burning for more than a week, has scorched about 33,000 acres, making it one of the biggest fires in the country and one of the largest in Louisiana history.

At least 20 structures have been destroyed in the fire, including barns, camps and primary residences, Beauregard Parish Sheriff Mark Herford said in a Sunday news briefing.

Firefighters on Wednesday said a line cut around the much of the fire by bulldozers has prevented the fire from spreading since it doubled in size over the weekend. But there are concerns that strong wind could throw hot ash or sparks to unburned stands of trees.

“The line around this (fire) has been strong enough to hold it in place, but anything more than a 15 mph gust could blow ashes across the line,” said Vickie Edge, an operations manager with the Southern Area Incident Management Team.

A mandatory evacuation for the town of Merryville was downgraded to voluntary this week, prompting some residents to return to the community of about 1,000 people.

“They’ve got the (fire) pretty much under control,” Merryville resident Rodney DeVille said as a helicopter dropped water on his smoldering property.

A burn ban is still in effect across Louisiana.

Wildfires that scorched parts of Rapides Parish last week were intentionally set, the Department of Agriculture and Forestry said in a news release. Violation of the burn ban can result in civil and criminal penalties.

Officials are urging Louisianans to be vigilant. Don't throw cigarettes out the car window and don't drive through tall grass, be careful working with welding machines, and fireproof your house, if possible.

"All it takes is a spark or two to cause a fire," said Christopher Bannan, meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

High winds and low humidity, along with the drought and extreme temperatures, are helping fires spread faster. So is leftover debris from hurricanes Laura and Delta.

"The hurricanes that knocked timber down that's not yet rotted, that's all fuel," said Strain.

When the fires have calmed, and to mitigate future fires, Strain said Louisiana needs to focus on how to clean up that timber, which is generally cracked and unusable. He said his agency is looking at ways to use it in chemicals, as energy, and to make wood pellets.

"We need to develop a market for downed timber," he said.

Prescribed burns can also help mitigate fires, but Strain said sometimes there's nothing that can prevent them.

"You can do everything you can do, but we're dealing with mother nature," he said.

An analysis from the World Weather Attribution, a group of researchers that studies extreme weather events, found this summer's extreme temperatures around the world would have been "virtually impossible" were it not for human-caused climate change. That's something people in Louisiana will have to deal with, Edwards said.

"This is probably the new normal," he said. "I’m not saying that this will happen to this degree every year, but it will happen to some degree."

By the time the fires are extinguished, the Department of Agriculture and Forestry expects 50,000–60,000 acres to be lost.

-Staff writer Tristan Baurick contributed to this report.

Email Rebecca Holland at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter, @_rebeccaholland.