Brandon Twp.-The fire department has responded to 11 brush fires in the month of April alone. For all of last year, they had 13 brush fires in the township.
‘May is usually the worst month for brush fires, but this year it’s April,? said Fire Chief Bob McArthur.
Steve McGee, Groveland Township fire chief agrees that April has been extreme for fires. Groveland Township responed to 10 so far this April with only five brush fires in 2004.
‘It’s just been so dry,? said McGee. ‘We’ve had nice weather and people are out in their yards working and doing a lot of burning. This month is not the worst but it’s above average.?
A brush fire is classified as any natural debris burning, such as brush, fields, or grass. Conditions are ripe for such fires when there is dry weather, humidity is low, temperatures exceed 60 degrees, and it is windy. The number one cause of brush fires, says McArthur, is carelessness of persons who are burning.
The fire department began issuing yearly burn permits three years ago for residents wanting to burn dry leaves, brush, cut dry grass, papers and wood scraps. Previously, citizens had to call everytime they wanted to burn? resulting in at least 300 calls to the fire station some days. The yearly permit has worked out better, McArthur says, bringing residents into one of three fire stations once a year. Groveland Township also offers yearly permits.
Burn permits are free and give credibility to the person doing the burning. A calendar specifies days that burning is permissible and rules to follow, including a requirement that a person be in attendance of a fire at all times and no burning in windy or drought conditions.
‘Typically, the fires we get are people burning without a permit and not following the rules,? McArthur said.
Common mistakes are unattended fires, not burning in a cleared out area, burning too close to woods, fields, or a house and burning when it is too windy outside.
‘A fire can be out of control in a heartbeat and then you’re chasing a fire that’s going 15-20 miles per hour,? McArthur said.
He recommends burning early in the morning or late in the evening for higher humidity and less wind.
Permits are not required for campfires (classified as less than three feet in diameter), but are required for bonfires (which are not allowed to be more than 6 feet in diameter).
For more information or to obtain a burn permit, call (248) 627-4000.