The temperatures may be going down, but the county’s Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI) ratings are on the rise.Fire department and county offi cials throughout the state utilize KBDI numbers, rated from 0-800, when determining about implementing burn bans.Those figures are based upon an area’s rainfall, soil moisture and dry vegetation.County commissioners are the only officials with the power to set down burn bans, a measure to reduce the chances of grassland and woodland wildfires.Dawson County hasn’t been under a burn ban since 2011. Its neighbors, Martin and Borden counties, have been under bans outlawing outdoor burning since the summer.Dawson County’s ...