East Feliciana Parish is now under a burn ban, parish officials said in an online post Wednesday.
It joins 21 other parishes that currently have bans in place, according to the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, the lead agency in establishing burn bans.
State and local authorities determine when risk is high enough to initiate the bans, the agency said in a social media post.
East Feliciana is under a medium fire danger level, according to the maintained by the department. Tangipahoa Parish, which is also under a medium fire danger level, is the parish closest to the Baton Rouge area that is also currently banning open fires.
Other levels of danger are low, high, very high and extreme.
Burn bans temporarily prohibit burns in an area until fire risk decreases. People who violate the bans could face state and local penalties.
Much of the state has experienced hot and dry conditions in recent weeks.
Southwest Louisiana is currently under a 鈥渞apid-onset drought warning,鈥� said Julie Lesko, senior service hydrologist with the National Weather Service office in Slidell.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had a very strong dome of heat and a very dry pattern after a very wet spring,鈥� Lesko said. 鈥淚t happened very quickly over the course of two weeks.鈥�
The rapid-onset drought warning means vegetation is stressed and more at risk of a wildfire, she said.