Oklahoma's burn ban map filled in fast this week. Eleven counties had active bans as of Thursday — Oklahoma, Cleveland, Canadian, Logan, McClain and Washita among them — and by week's end reporting put the count at 15, with more counties expected to follow if the heat and the dry hold. If your weekend plans involve a burn barrel, a brush pile or a campfire, check before you strike a match.

Burn bans are a county-by-county decision. Under state law, a board of county commissioners can declare one during periods of extreme fire danger, for a set number of days and renewable if conditions persist. Canadian County's commissioners enacted an immediate 14-day ban this week, and Oklahoma County's runs through Aug. 21. Because each ban is its own resolution, the details differ from county to county — some carve out exceptions for gas grills or professionally supervised burns — so the resolution itself, not a neighbor's summary, is the authority on what is allowed where you live.

The reason is in the run totals. The Oklahoma City Fire Department reported at midweek that it had answered about 75 wildfire calls in August alone, with half the month still to go. Weeks of triple-digit heat and scant rain have cured grasses across much of the state, and fire danger has stayed elevated across the western half of Oklahoma even on days when the wind lies down.

Violating a ban is not a warning-and-wave offense. It is a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $500, up to a year in jail, or both — and that is before any civil liability if a fire you started escapes onto someone else's property.

What bans generally prohibit is open outdoor burning: debris and trash fires, campfires, bonfires. What they generally leave alone is indoor cooking and, in many counties, grilling over gas. The gray areas — charcoal, welding, controlled agricultural burns — are exactly where county resolutions diverge, and exactly why it pays to read yours.

Oklahoma Forestry Services maintains the current statewide list and map of county bans, and your county commissioners' office can read you the exact resolution. Check the day you plan to burn, not the day you made the plan: the list changed several times this week and will likely change again.

Sources: Fox 25: burn bans extend to 15 counties · KFOR: Oklahoma County enacts burn ban · Fox 25: Canadian County's 14-day ban · Radio Oklahoma: ban runs through Aug. 21