NATCHEZ — It’s been hot and dry, and Thursday the Adams County Board of Supervisors declared Adams County to be under an immediate, no exceptions burn ban through July 2.

The supervisors enacted the ban at the request of Adams County Emergency Management Director Stan Owens, who said the recent hot and dry conditions necessitated it.

“The National Weather Service is showing a very slight chance of rain through next Wednesday,” Owens said. “We are looking at an extended dry period.”

Supervisors President Darryl Grennell said the present conditions coupled with the time of year presented special concerns.

“We are on the verge of the Fourth of July celebrations, and I had a major concern about the potential fires here in Adams County,” Grennell said. “(The) priority here is human life, as well as property.”

Owens’ recommendation to the board was to enact the burn ban until July 16, which is the date of the regularly scheduled mid-July supervisors’ meeting.

Supervisor Mike Lazarus — based on advice from board attorney Scott Slover — made a motion to enact the ban until the supervisors’ July 2 meeting.

At the July 2 meeting, the supervisors will look at all of the factors — including any rainfall that might have fallen — and make a determination if they will extend the ban beyond that date or let it expire, Grennell said.

According to a news release from the Mississippi Forestry Commission, eight Mississippi counties are currently under a burn ban.

Violation of a burn ban is a misdemeanor that has a statutory fine of no less than $100 and no more than $500 attached to it.