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outdoor burn bans.
Are burn bans effective? I posted this to begin with in wildland firefighting. In the summer months and other dry times. the county fire cheifs request a burn ban. Sometimes it seems that we have more runs than usual. If we get a little rain shower some people want to do outdoor burning. It seems that lots of folks move to rural areas and lose their common sense.
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Here in Central PA many communities have burn bans. Some only during periods of drought or when there hasn't been a good amount of rain and others have them up all the time regardless of conditions. Generally they seem to be effective. The local police departments usually do the enforcing of them. If get a report of someone burning and the police aren't available we will go and check it out. If there is a burn ban in effect well ask them to extinguish the fire. Most people if you explain to them the situation they'll cooperate. -
During a "burn ban", we generally have the support of the Fire Marshalls office. Therefore, it someone violates the burn ban; 1). they are in violation because they have no permit and 2). the permit is null and void in such situations.
This leads to the Sherriffs department upon our request issuing a citation for the violation. We do not have TOTAL cooperation in the issue, but 98-99% of the time, it leads to decrease in violation of said ban.
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Your Brother In The Service,
Rob Herpel
FF/EMT
Vice-Pres./Asst. EMS Coordinator
Fremont Rural Fire DepartmentComment
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They are only as good as the enforcement. If illegal burns have to start a forest fire before anybody does anything to the burner, it's pointless. If you have responsive law enforcement (& a community full of snitches!) that will investigate complaints and give citations, it will help.
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My county doesn't allow open space burning at all, but most of it is a densley populated, suburban area. I can't say for sure, but I think most brush fires here are started by discarded cigarettes or bored kids. I don't know how much the ban has helped. Here it is the fd's responsibility to respond to open space burning calls and see that they are extinguished. Take care and be safe.
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Phil Clinard
Laurel VFD
Prince George's Co Sta 10
Laurel, MD
www.laurelvfd.orgComment
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Yes, I believe they are effective. In the state of Iowa, the fire chiefs within the county request the ban and the state fire marshal issues the ban. It is a simple misdemeanor and it is strictly enforced in our county.
For more info on this http://www.state.ia.us/government/dp...urnban1199.htm
ToddComment
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We never did have any luck with a burn ban when I was on a count dept in MO, the people just didnt seem to care and there was no real inforcment out side the city. Now inside the city its a hole different ball game and we dont have a problem.
JoeComment
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