The parched ground of Adams County and Concordia Parish welcomed brief rain showers Saturday afternoon, but much more rain is needed before the danger of recurring grass fires is over, say local fire officials.

Nolen Cothren, fire chief for Concordia Fire District No. 2, said he didn’t see much rain Saturday. &uot;Over here on Airport Road, we got very little rain,&uot; he said.

Cothren said the ground is still so dry that he anticipates requesting a &uot;no burn&uot; order from the Concordia Policy Jury on Monday.

&uot;If we don’t get some solid rain this weekend, I’m going to ask for a no burn order,&uot; Cothren said.

Saturday’s brief rain came one day after state forestry officials and Gov. Ronnie Musgrove issued a statewide ban on outside burning, citing damage to nearly 22,000 acres since Feb. 1 and rainfall amounts 12 inches less than normal. Forestry officials said it would take more than 10 inches of rain over several days to give the state relief.

According to the drought monitoring service of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, the Miss-Lou area is considered in a severe drought, which is in the center of their five-level scale ranging from &uot;abnormally dry&uot; to &uot;exceptional drought.&uot;

Natchez Fire Chief Gary Winborne said the ground in the area is so dry that the rain hitting the ground Saturday evening was immediately soaked up.

&uot;As soon as the first winds blow, it will dry it back out,&uot; Winborne said.

Despite the brevity of the cloudburst this weekend, Winborne said he knew there were at least 60 happy fire fighters when the wet stuff came down Saturday.

&uot;It’s going to take a lot more than this to solve our problem,&uot; Winborne said. &uot;But we’ll take what we can get.&uot;