BATON ROUGE - Louisiana is triggering emergency protocols in wake of "hundreds of wildfires" that have impacted the state amid its ongoing heat emergency. 

The Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness activated its Emergency Operations Center on Wednesday.

GOHSEP and the Fire Marshal's Office will be joined by other state agencies during a 4 p.m. news conference discussing the burn ban and the wildfire emergency in Beauregard Parish. 

Watch the press conference live on Channel 2 and WBRZ+. Stream live coverage here.

Read the full announcement below. 

The Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness has activated the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) due to hundreds of wildfires impacting the state. GOHSEP and the other state agencies responsible for response to this type event will help coordinate resources to combat the fires and stop new wildfire threats.

"State agencies will review support requests from our local partners and do everything reasonably possible to assist them in their response,” said GOHSEP Director Casey Tingle. “Wildfires in Beauregard Parish have grown tremendously over the past 24 hours. Emergency officials have ordered evacuations near Merryville and a significant area has been impacted. Hundreds of other fires have been reported across the state over the past several weeks.”

Governor John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency earlier this month due to the extreme heat and drought conditions. The Louisiana State Fire Marshal’s Office, in coordination with the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, issued a statewide burn ban on August 7th.

“It is extremely important that the public adhere to the burn ban,” said Tingle. “Crews fighting these fires are becoming strained due to the ongoing problems. We all play a role in preventing additional problems. Weather experts say this has been the hottest, driest summer to date for portions of the state. The dangerous fire conditions will likely continue for an extended period of time.”

According to the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, the number of wildfires has grown tremendously since the conditions started.

LDAF Report:

May 21 Fires/74 Acres
June 65 Fires/297 Acres
July 128 Fires/1,362 Acres
August 357 Fires/4,909 Acres (as of 08/21/23)