BATON ROUGE - The Louisiana State Fire Marshal’s Office is set to ease restrictions considering the statewide burn ban, which has been in effect since August 14.

Under new rules starting Friday, September 29, individual parishes can choose to opt out of the ban. Fire chiefs also have the choice to resume permitting open fires.

On Wednesday, Livingston Parish said they are still enforcing a burn ban until further notice. 

For farmers, the ban on agricultural burning was rescinded Wednesday afternoon with the exception of standing sugar cane, which will see its harvest season in the coming weeks.

Extreme drought conditions and wildfires across the state prompted the burn ban in August. The National Weather Service said August of 2023 was the driest on record

The State Fire Marshal's Office says they will re-evaluate the ban on a week-to-week basis.