Supervisors Monday placed Lincoln County under a burn ban inresponse to the number of wildfires that have blazed throughpastures and woods in recent weeks.

The ban will remain in effect until Feb. 8, although supervisorssaid they would re-evaluate it should the county receive asignificant amount of rainfall before that date. Monday’s actioncame after a meeting with Lincoln County Fire Coordinator CliffordGaley, who met with members of the Mississippi Forestry CommissionFriday.

Galey said county volunteer fire departments have responded toat least five to six wildfires a day since the new year.

Dale Brown, public outreach forester with the MFC, said acombination of factors, including dry conditions, high winds, lowhumidity and plentiful debris resulting from Hurricane Katrina,have led to a dangerous situation. Thousands of acres have alreadybeen burned since the new year in MFC’s Southwest District, Brownsaid.

Randy Chapin, regional forester for the MFC, recommended lastweek that only professional foresters burn undergrowth or debris toprepare for the tree-planting season.

Most of the wildfires have been caused by county residentsburning trash or debris, the three men said, and weather conditionsare just not favorable for those burns.