NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Drought conditions are getting worse in Tennessee. More cities in Middle Tennessee are enacting burn bans to try to get a hold of the problem.
About six million Tennesseans are impacted by the drought daily. Last week middle Tennessee was in the abnormally dry range, but south parts of the state were in the severe to extreme category. It's gotten much worse.
According to drought.gov Middle Tennessee is now in the severe to extreme drought category. Nashville and Murfreesboro are in severe conditions and areas to the north, like Clarksville is abnormally dry. Numbers show 92% of Tennessee is in a drought and 40% of the state is in extreme drought conditions.
There are currently burn bans in Rutherford County, Williamson County, the city of Ethridge, Decherd, Franklin County, Lawrenceburg, and Centerville. Not only are we seeing more burn bans, but we're also seeing more brush fires.
This weekend alone there were fires along the Davidson/Cheatham County line, in Franklin County, and Lawrence County. Law enforcement urging the public to not burn anything and be mindful of anything that can cause a fire.
Sunday, Franklin County, Nashville and Lawrence County fought fires. You may have seen smoke for a while out near Bellevue. Nashville Fire fought that fire off Gourley Road with the help of other emergency crews who helped to create fire lines to keep the fire contained. Franklin County, fought a woodland fire on Hurricane Road.
The cause of the fire is undetermined at this time.
Lawrence County were up early fighting a brush fire in the Westpoint District on Railroad Road.
A burn ban includes all fires. A violation of a Commissioner of Agriculture imposed burn ban is considered reckless burning and is punishable as a Class A misdemeanor which carries a fine of $2,500 or almost a year in jail.
