TX Forest Service offers outdoor burning advice

Burning trash or yard debris outside during the hot, dry summertime brings with it the danger of wildfire.

The Texas Forest Service offers the following tips to avoid a disaster.

1. Burn only when surface winds are expected to stay between 6 and 23 miles-perhour. Ensure smoke does not travel across roadways or toward buildings or homes.

2. Start the burn no earlier than an hour after sunrise and ensure the fire is extinguished with no visible flames, flowing coals or smoke, no later than an hour before sunset.

3. Limit burns to yard trimmings.

4. Have some means of controlling the fire such as a ready water source. Do not leave the fire unattended.

5. Notify the sheriff's office or fire department before burning.

6. If burning trash, do so in a metal barrel, preferably covered with a grate, to keep flaming debris from blowing around.

Generally, burning is limited to areas outside city limits that are not under a burn ban. To find out whether your county has a burn ban, contact your local fire marshal or find a map on the Texas Forest Service's website at http:/ /tfsweb.tamu.edu/newsroom/.