BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards asked the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, State Fire Marshal’s Office and other relevant state agencies to address the "imminent threat" of ongoing wildfires related to record heat that continues to plague the state.
Edwards asked officials to stress the importance of the statewide burn ban and encourage the public's compliance with the ordinance during a drought-ridden summer that has seen an historic number of wildfires in Louisiana.
"As we speak today, about 10-to-12,000 acres have burned in Beauregard Parish, which has forced evacuations and has required a large-scale response from state and local first responders and fire-fighting teams."
Other fires have been reported all across the state, even as the press conference was being conducted. Such as a marsh fire in Plaquemines Parish on Wednesday afternoon.
"These fires – simply put – present a threat to the public, to our families, to our homes, our business and our property," said GOHSEP director Casey Tingle. "There is also an imminent threat to those that are fighting these fires on our behalf and the crews of fire fighters that are out there fighting valiantly in very hot and difficult conditions."
With little – to no – guaranteed weather relief forecast in foreseeable future, officials believe conditions could remain the same or worsen over the next few days.
In response, GOHSEP activated its state emergency operations center on Wednesday morning to process any requests for state support from local emergency managers and to best coordinate the state's reaction to the Beauregard situation and other related fires in the area.
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