Awareness and collaboration could be some of the greatest combatants against the historic number of wildfires that have ignited across Louisiana in recent weeks, said Casey Tingle, GOHSEP director. 

He, alongside other state partners, gathered at a press conference to “stress the importance of the ongoing burn ban and to encourage the public’s compliance with the ban.”

“We desperately need everyone’s help in adhering to this order.”

In response to the wildfires that have been caused by extreme heat conditions and prolonged drought, Gov. John Bel Edwards and GOHSEP activated the State Emergency Operations Center at 7 a.m.. This command and control center coordinates and manages disaster planning, response and mitigation for emergency situations. Requests for state support from local agencies are processed through the center and can include resources, personnel and equipment.

“GOHSEP and all of the agencies that we work with are responsible for this response and have personnel here to help with those efforts and to help get us all through this unique situation and to provide the support that particularly, our local firefighting teams and state firefighting teams need as they work day after day, very long hours in very difficult conditions, fighting these fires,” Tingle said.

In a release sent out prior to the press conference, Edwards stated that while the State is “urgently responding to the current situation in Beauregard Parish,” as well as other fires throughout Louisiana, many could have been prevented with burn ban compliance.

“We need everyone to do their part in order to prevent further fires with potentially tragic outcomes.”

Tingle said that these conditions could remain the same or even worsen over the coming days.

“There doesn’t appear to be any guaranteed relief in sight when you look at the forecast”

He noted that the current climate is juxtaposed with what Louisiana citizens are used to experiencing. The differences in weather require different habits.

“When it comes to this time of year, typically we’re talking about hurricanes, tropical storms, rain, flooding.. But this time this year, obviously we are dealing with a different kind of weather situation that requires everybody to be aware of the burn ban and to do their part to reduce the likelihood that we would have anything that could potentially start a fire.”

Felicia Cooper, state fire marshal’s office, urged citizens from across the state to follow the burn ban, stating that the fires are dangerous for everyone.

“Homes have been lost, tens of thousands of acres of property have been destroyed, lives have been threatened, especially the lives of firefighters. That’s why everyone of us has a role to play right now to protect our families, our communities and our first responders.”

Steps that can be taken to prevent wildfires include stubbing cigarettes in fire-safe containers, being mindful of the condition when smoking, properly storying towing chains to avoid sparks, avoiding all outside fires and driving on and around dry grass and removing dry debris and wood that is on or around homes.

“We need to keep all of these practices in mind every day that we experience these dangerously dry conditions.”