Misty weather and some rain isn’t enough to lift the burn ban in Haines.

It’s been more than thirty days of drought conditions in Haines, so the volunteer fire department still has a full burn ban in effect. That means no open fires, including burn barrels and waste piles.

Fire Chief Al Giddings says the burn ban continues because of a persistent elevated fire danger rating.

“What that simply means is that the possibility–should a fire ignite–it would spread so rapidly that it could easily overwhelm the facilities that we have here,” he said.

Unseasonably dry conditions contribute to that high fire danger rating. Because of increased risk, the federal Division of Forestry has sent some back up to Haines as a preventative measure. Thar includes a  special fire engine equipped for brush fires and stationed several helicopter-trained Federal Wildland firefighters.

“They would have access to immediate resources such as helicopter or air drops and that’s what we would really need if something were to break out here beyond our control,” said Giddings.

Cloud cover and some light precipitation lowered the fire danger from “extreme” to “high” on Wednesday. Giddings says there needs to be a more rain before the ban is lifted. Even though recent showers have wet the foliage, he’s concerned about the top eight inches of soil and duff that are still dry.

Skagway lifted its burn ban on Friday after rain. The ban was in effect since August 8th. Current fire danger is low.