October 4, 2007

Burning season opens in city, county

Open burning season begins this weekend in the City of Ritzville limits and in Adams County Fire Protection District No. 1 and ends in the spring when things start to dry out.

Fire Chief Scott Kembel said burning is allowed only for yard waste, and absolutely no burn barrels are permitted.

The maximum size of a burn pile is four-feet wide by four-feet deep by three-feet high. Burning permits are required and may be obtained from Dennis Morgan’s office at 120 West Main Avenue.

A call must be placed to the sheriff’s office before starting fires and again once the fire has been extinguished.

Since Ritzville is not an Urban Growth Areas (UGAs), it is legal to burn natural vegetation as long as guidelines are followed.

Before conducting outdoor burning:

• The burn pile must be less than four-foot by four-foot by three-foot and you may burn only one pile at a time.

• Burning is not permitted in the alleys or roadways.

• Fires must be extinguished at dusk.

• Burning is not the only way to dispose of natural vegetation. Consider composting and chipping for solid waste disposal.

• You are encouraged to call and follow the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) Burn Day Hotline at 1-800-406-5322.

• When and where burning is allowed, only unprocessed natural vegetation may be burned.

• BURN BARRELS ARE ILLEGAL.

• Smoke must not impact neighbors, and the person responsible for the smoke must put out the fire if it does have an impact.

• Do not leave the fire unattended.

• The fire should not include materials hauled from another property.

• Construction and demolition debris is illegal to burn.

More information is available at Ecology’s website at http://www.ecy.wa.gov .