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Lawrence judge/executive declares ban in burning as temperatures soar;

lawrence Judge/Executive John Osborne joined 33 other Kentucky counties in declaring a ban on all burning because of the recent drought. LOUISA, Ky. -- Lawrence Judge/Executive John Osborne today (Thursday, June 28, 2012) declared a state of emergency in Lawrence County because of the drought conditions. A copy of the declaration is posted at the end of this story.

As Kentucky is hammered today with a heatwave, the National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning for this afternoon. That means outdoor burning is particularly dangerous this afternoon because of the combination of temperatures flirting with 100 degrees, very low humidity and westerly winds of 10-15 mph.

Lawrence County joined other Kentucky counties is instituting the burning ban Thursday.

As a result of tinderbox conditions because of a serous lack of rainfall across the state, 51 Kentucky counties have now banned all forms of outdoor burning. That's up from 33 counties which had issued bans on Wednesday.

Those banning outside burning now include:

Frankfort - Seventy of Kentucky's 120 counties have now issued outdoor burning bans because of the extreme heat and dry conditions across much of the state.

Counties that have issued burn bans, according to the state Division of Forestry, include:

Anderson, Ballard, Barren, Bath, Boone, Bourbon, Boyd, Boyle, Bracken, Breathitt, Breckinridge, Butler, Caldwell, Calloway, Campbell, Carlisle, Clark, Christian, Clinton, Crittenden, Cumberland, Elliott, Fayette, Floyd, Fulton, Graves, Hancock, Harrison, Henderson, Hickman, Hopkins, Jessamine, Johnson, Laurel, Lawrence, Lee, Letcher, Logan, Lyon, Madison, Marshall, Martin, McLean, Meade, Menifee, Mercer, Metcalfe, Montgomery, Monroe, Morgan, Muhlenberg, Nicholas, Oldham, Owsley, Perry, Powell, Pike, Robertson, Rockcastle, Rowan, Scott, Simpson, Todd, Trigg, Union, Warren, Webster, Whitley, Wolfe and Woodford.

Eleven wildfires around the state on Wednesday burned 101 acres, according to the state Division of Forestry. Those fires were reported in Breathitt, Caldwell, Greenup, Harlan, Hopkins, Knott, Magoffin, Mercer, Pulaski and Perry counties.

The current heat wave will continue in Kentucky through at least Monday with high temperatures running in the upper 90s and around 100 degrees or even a little higher, the weather service said.

Kentucky Press News Service