Kemper County burn ban runs through Nov. 16

Kemper County’s burn ban runs through Nov. 16, 2026, according to the Mississippi Forestry Commission’s current county listing. The restriction began Oct. 26; the table was checked Tuesday, Oct. 27.

Residents should postpone burning yard debris and using campfires, bonfires, fire pits or burn barrels. The commission’s burn-ban guidance prohibits open flames that produce embers.

Grills and limited exemptions

The agency allows gas or propane grills and heaters, plus charcoal grills. Keep them away from combustible materials and supervise them. Cool charcoal completely, soak it with water and place it in a metal container for disposal.

Kemper’s listed exemptions are 1, 2 and 4: Forestry Commission operations, certified burn managers, and commercial contractors using heavy construction equipment whose burns meet Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality requirements. These are limited categories, not a general permission to burn household yard waste.

Check the live county listing before planning a burn. The regional fire-weather outlook discussed in our Monday morning briefing has a different time window from Kemper’s county restriction.

Featured graphic: National Weather Service Jackson’s Oct. 26, 2026, 2:51 a.m. CDT fire-danger outlook, used unaltered as dated regional context. This public-domain graphic depicts forecast fire danger, not county burn-ban boundaries.

This article was researched and written with AI using the public sources linked above.