GRIMES COUNTY, Texas - As the temperatures continue to rise and the landscape continues to dry out, the soggy days of spring are gone. More than 50 counties across Texas are under a burn ban.
And for people in the Brazos Valley cleaning up dead trees after May's tornadoes, the burn bans are slowing things down.
Gari Douglas' home was spared when a tornado tore across her land. But her trees, however, weren't so lucky.
"I really cared about the trees and it made me really sad that, to think how old they were and that, in my lifetime, they wouldn't be replaced," said Douglas, whose trees now sit in massive piles across her property.
Douglas had planned to burn the giant wood piles. But after a burn ban was issued for Grimes County on July 12, the piles will stay put.
"They're in place for a reason," said Phillip Truitt with the Texas A&M Forest Service. "That's because the fire danger is so high. So violating a burn ban could cause a major wildfire to occur due to you having an outdoor fire."
As for Douglas, she plans to burn in the winter instead.
"With this kind of weather and this kind of heat and all, if it got out, there wouldn't be a way to stop it," she said.
Currently in the Brazos Valley, Madison, Grimes and Robertson counties are under a burn ban.
On this date last year, only 17 Texas counties were under a burn ban.