CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — As the official start of summer nears, the Corpus Christi area already has seen a number of fires.
Most recently, crews were called to the Padre Island National Seashore over Memorial Day weekend, where they battled three different fires.
The Texas A&M Forest Service map shows five Coastal Bend counties that are currently under a burn ban. Nueces, however, is not one of them.
A combination of factors go into determining whether a burn ban should be ordered, said Nueces County Pct. 4 Commissioner Brent Chesney, including the drought index average.
"It's not just a number, it's also: Have there been brush fires? Is there rain in the forecast?" he said. "Things of that nature that can come into play."
Those are just some of the elements Chesney said add to what can turn into a waiting game.
"This point, we haven't gotten there," he said. "We did have one, I believe, last summer. We waited till it got to about a 600 number."
Corpus Christi Fire Department Chief Brandon Wade said that he and his team normally see more fires spring up in the summer months.
"Sometimes we do see increases in the brush fires; the grass fires," he said. "You know, they can happen locally or they can happen regionally, and of course, across the state."
Wade said that when they see those increases, it can put a strain on his department. It's something he said he wants to stay prepared for.
"Just this weekend, we saw fires down toward the national seashore, which our firefighters were there fighting," he said. "We have started even more training with our crews and preparing our firefighters for the grass- and brushfire season."
Chesney said that when a burn ban is enacted, it can last for as little as one month.
"Can last 30, 60, 90 days," he said. "Usually, we will put them in place for 30-60 days to kind of get out of those hot summer months."
Chesney said a burn-ban discussion has been placed on the commissioners' court agenda for June 18. He also said that if a ban needs to be enacted before then, the county judge can call one.
That decision is good for seven days before it has to be endorsed by the full commissioners court.