Before You Burn Brush, Check Whether the Ban Is On

A pile of mesquite trimmings and a calm Saturday morning is exactly how a grass fire gets going in a dry spell. That's why the county keeps a dated Burn Ban Information notice up on its homepage; the one posted August 25, 2025 is the kind of thing to look for. When Commissioners Court has a ban in effect, outdoor burning across the unincorporated parts of the county is off the table: no debris piles, no pasture burns, until the rain comes back and they lift it.

With no ban on, whatever burning you do still has to clear the state's outdoor-burning rules, which run through TCEQ. Scott Marion is the County Fire Marshal, a certified fire investigator working out of 313 N. Rachal in Sinton, and he's the person to call at (361) 587-3558 if you can't tell whether what you're about to do is allowed today. He'll know what the conditions are; the calendar won't.

The ban only governs land outside city limits, so where your place sits decides which rulebook applies. Inside Sinton, Portland, Aransas Pass, or another incorporated town, the city's own fire rules take over instead. A neighbor's memory of last summer isn't worth much here. Conditions flip week to week down on the Coastal Bend, and a notice that was green in May can be a hard no by August.