UPDATE: Burning ban lifted in Whitley County

Outdoor burning in Whitley County can now resume.

Whitley County Judge-Executive Pat White Jr. signed an executive order for a countywide red flag warning that went into effect at 9 a.m. Tuesday banning all outdoor burning until further notice, due to “current and predicted weather conditions, and the extreme danger of forest fires,” White wrote in the order.

White issued another executive order about 11:55 a.m. Wednesday lifting the county burn ban, but he notes that state and federal bands are still enforceable.

Whitley County Projects Director Amber Owens said officials were hoping not to have to implement the burning ban Tuesday, but due to changing weather predictions that decreased the chance of rain Tuesday, they felt like it was now necessary.

She said that the ban was prompted in part by a fairly large forest fire in the Little Wolf Creek and Mud Lane area of Whitley County on Monday.

This past fall, White issued a six-week long burning ban due to multiple wildfires that destroyed more than 3,000 acres in Whitley County.