The Madison County Emergency Management Office announced last week that the state Department of Environmental Conservation open burn ban takes effect March 16 and runs through May 14.
“The lack of significant snowfall this winter has resulted in less moisture in the vegetation that will allow for more rapid fire spread and quicker ignition,” said Madison County Fire Coordinator Doug Shattuck. “The result is that smaller fires get larger and out of control quicker. The burn ban is intended to prevent these consequences and we encourage all of our citizens to comply with this ban.” Please understand that if you ignore the ban and your fire is reported, you may be
According to Shattuck, those ignoring the ban and reported may be subject to an initial minimum fine of $500. If your fire is reported or spreads out of control then you are endangering your local firefighters unnecessarily and
“If your fire is reported or spreads out of control, you are endangering your local firefighters unnecessarily and may prevent them from a timely response to a true emergency occurring somewhere else in your community,” Shattuck said. “We strongly encourage responsible and safe spring lawn and garden clean up using composting instead of fire.”