By John Howell
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant’s statewide burn ban proclamation signed late Tuesday excludes all outdoor fires including agricultural burning, Panola County Emergency Management Agency Director Daniel Cole said.

The governor issued the proclamation at the request of the Mississippi Forestry Commission in the face of extremely dry conditions in much of the state.

Panola County was among about half of Mississippi’s counties to have already enacted a burn ban.

“The governor’s statewide burn ban supercedes all county and city burn bans,” Cole said.
The Mississippi Forestry Commission estimates it has responded to more than 430 wildfires since Oct. 1. The wildfires consumed over 7,000 acres and threatened homes and buildings, destroying 23.

The burn ban goes into effect immediately and remains in force until lifted.