Burn ban off, but caution still urged

After getting a little more moisture the past week, Custer County commissioners lifted the county’s burn ban Monday.
Gov. Mary Fallin had taken Custer County out of her state ban one week earlier. County commissioners renewed theirs then for 14 days but promised to take another look at it at their next meeting which was Monday, and they did.
Before they removed the ban, though, they listened to a plea from citizen Lawrence Sawatzky who farms southeast of Clinton. He asked that commissioners consider using Red Flag days instead of burn bans so much.
He indicated that would give farmers and others who need to burn an opportunity to use their judgment and do more burning when conditions are not so bad. He said farmers do need to burn sometimes and he’s used it as a tool for decades.
“Last week I could have burned a couple of piles by my barn,” he said, referring to good weather conditions including high humidity and low wind, but because of the burn ban he didn’t.
“A couple of times in the past,” said Sawatzky, “everything was covered in ice. It was the perfect time to burn.” But he implied he couldn’t because there was a burn ban in effect.
Sawatzky asked the commissioners to stress education with the public and let them know what the conditions should be like to burn and not to burn.
“I understand your concerns, “ he continued. “But I believe personally we’re doing it the wrong way.”
“He’s not alone,” said the county’s emergency management director, Mike Galloway. One day last week Galloway said he saw probably eight flumes in Washita County and they were going straight up. The implication was it was a good day to burn because there was very little wind.
Commissioner Kurt Hamburger said many people control cedar trees in their pastures with fires. But he advised, “Before you light up, see what the humidity is. See what the wind speed is.”
He held up his cell phone and said, “The technology is in this little box.” In other words, it will tell farmers what the conditions are and what they’re likely to be.
Commissioner Lyle Miller agreed the cell phone can be a big help that his forefathers didn’t have.
“Lyle is right,” said the third commissioner, former Clinton fire chief Wade Anders. “If people would use common sense. . . .”
For instance he said that as he was speaking, it was calm. But he implied that in 60 minutes it might not be.
“It’s a controlled burn until you light the match,” he said.
Galloway said when people burn a pile of grass or refuse, they need to be sure it’s out before they leave. “You’re still responsible after the fact,” he said. “That’s part of the education. You burn your neighbor, you’re responsible.”
Anders agreed that neighbors need to communicate and let each other know what they’re doing, or planning on doing.
“Call the fire department and tell them too,” added Sawatzky.
Galloway said things are greening up, but he still urged caution, pointing out that last week the weather forecast called for three chances of rain. “Two of ’em didn’t happen,” he said. “Even forecasts are hard to plan a week out.”
Anders agreed a week has made a difference. But he too cautioned, “If it’s 95 and the wind starts blowing. . . .”
Miller wondered if the commissioners should lift their burn ban effective at midnight Monday.
Hamburger didn’t think so.
“If we’re going to lift it, let’s just lift it,” he said. Anders then made a motion to do so immediately, Hamburger seconded, and the vote was 3-0.
Even so, Anders wanted to caution everybody. “If the wind gets up and the temperature gets up, it still has the potential to move,” he said.
Afterwards, Galloway explained the difference between a burn ban and a Red Flag day. He said the National Weather Service can declare a Red Flag day which means it’s a high-danger day for fires but they’re not illegal.
A burn ban, on the other hand, is declared by a legislative body or a chief executive, such as a governor, and it is illegal.