Burn Ban Data Sources & Legal Disclaimer

This document explains the data source, how updates work, and where legal responsibility lies. This is not legal advice.

1. Purpose of This Service

This website and application (“the Service”) provides informational access to publicly available burn ban status data for counties in the State of Texas.

The goal of the Service is to make it easier for residents and visitors to quickly view the general burn ban status in their county.

This Service is not an official government system and should not be relied upon as the sole source of information when determining whether burning is legally permitted.

2. Source of Burn Ban Data

The burn ban data displayed in this Service originates from publicly available geographic information services maintained by the Texas A&M Forest Service.

Specifically, this Service queries a publicly accessible ArcGIS feature layer maintained by the Texas A&M Forest Service that aggregates burn ban status reported by Texas counties.

This dataset contains information such as:

County name
Burn ban status (Yes / No)
Start date of the burn ban order
County identifiers (FIPS and internal GIS identifiers)

The Texas A&M Forest Service does not issue burn bans. Instead, it aggregates information provided by county governments and publishes that information through its wildfire and burn ban mapping systems.

3. How Burn Ban Status Is Determined

Burn bans in Texas are issued at the county level. Typically, the process follows this flow:

County Commissioners Court or County Judge
↓
Official Burn Ban Order Issued
↓
Order Filed With County Clerk
↓
County Emergency Management / Fire Officials Report Status
↓
Texas A&M Forest Service Updates GIS Dataset
↓
This Service Queries the Dataset

Because the information must pass through several steps before appearing in the dataset, there may be delays between when a burn ban is issued or lifted and when the change appears in the dataset.

4. Data Update Frequency

The burn ban dataset maintained by the Texas A&M Forest Service is generally updated periodically as counties report changes.

Updates may occur:

the same day a burn ban is issued or lifted
within several hours
within approximately 24 hours in some cases

Because the update process involves county reporting and data aggregation, the information displayed by this Service may not always reflect the most recent legal status.

5. Official Legal Source of Burn Ban Orders

The only legally authoritative source for burn ban status is the official burn ban order issued by the county government.

These orders are typically issued by the County Commissioners Court or the County Judge and are filed as public records with the county.

Authoritative sources may include:

County Commissioners Court orders
County Clerk records
County Emergency Management offices
Official county government websites

These records represent the legal source of truth for burn ban status.

6. Informational Nature of This Service

This Service is provided for informational and convenience purposes only.

The information presented:

may contain delays
may contain inaccuracies
may not reflect real-time changes
may not reflect temporary emergency orders

The Service does not guarantee that burn ban information is current, complete, or accurate at any given time.

7. User Responsibility

Users are responsible for verifying burn ban status through official county sources before conducting any outdoor burning activities.

Users should confirm burn ban status with one or more of the following: official county government websites, county emergency management offices, county fire marshal or sheriff’s office, or official county burn ban orders—before engaging in any activity that may be restricted by a burn ban.

8. Limitation of Liability

The operators of this Service make no warranties regarding the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the burn ban information displayed.

By using this Service, you acknowledge that:

the information is provided “as is”
the Service is not an official government resource
the Service does not replace official county announcements or legal orders

The operators of this Service shall not be held liable for any damages, penalties, fines, or legal consequences resulting from reliance on information provided by the Service.

9. Relationship to Government Entities

This Service is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the Texas A&M Forest Service, any Texas county government, or any state or federal agency.

All data displayed is derived from publicly accessible government information systems.

10. Contact

If you believe burn ban information displayed on this Service is incorrect, please contact the appropriate county government office or emergency management authority for confirmation.

For issues related to the functionality of this website or application, you may contact the Service operator through the Support page on this site.