Stop, drop and don’t burn.
Last Saturday at 6 p.m., the NC Forest Service announced a statewide burn ban, due to a moderate drought, low humidity and gusty wind conditions, which can all lead to the potential of a dangerous forest fire emerging.
The burn ban was issued until further notice. No open burning, even for burning permit holders, and no leaves, branches or other plant material are to be burned during this period of time. Burning trash, lumber, tires, newspapers, plastics or any other non-vegetative material is against state law at all times, not just during a burn ban, authorities pointed out.
“All open burning is prohibited,” Sampson County Forest Service Ranger Cody Ake explained. “That includes, if you’ve gone out and raked some leaves or some pine straw and you’re just trying to clean up your yard. There’s no burning of that of any type. That also goes for a lot of land clearers that we see, they’re not to burn as well. If you’re out camping, you’re not to do campfires, but that does not limit you from using a charcoal grill or a gas grill. However, it is recommended that you use a gas grill because it’s easier to control, and you don’t have to worry about the ashes that come from the charcoal.
Ake emphasized that the burn ban gave a 48-hour grace period for the news to spread to those that might have been unaware. That 48-hour grace period ended Monday at 6 p.m.
“After that 48-hour grace period, if a fire is called and the homeowner happens to be the one that lit the fire, it is an automatic citation, a $100 fine plus $183 in court costs,” he said, “which would bring your grand total of $283 for us to have to come out and write that citation.”
Notices have been sent out to multiple fire departments across Sampson County, informing them of the burn ban to enforce for those that violate it.
“There’s been flyers that’ve been sent out to all of the fire departments, they’ve got the notice that a burn ban is in play,” Ake pointed out. “They’re patrolling their areas so if they see a fire, to go ahead to let the homeowners know ‘Hey, there’s a burn ban in play, you need to go ahead to put that out.’ So that helps us. It’s hard for six people that work for the Forest Service to go and tell however many thousands of citizens in Sampson County that a burn ban is in play. It went all across the state in the news Saturday, so that way anyone that watches TV or looks at a newspaper can see that a burn ban has been implemented, so no burning of any kind.”
The burn ban does not apply to fires started within 100 feet of an occupied dwelling. The local fire marshal has authority to issue a burn ban within those 100 feet. Attempts were made to contact Sampson County Fire Marshal Prentice Madgar, but calls were not returned by press time.
In the announcement of the burn ban, Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler stated, “With drought severity across the state, forecast fire weather and the potential for limited rainfall, it is critical to reduce the number of new fire starts. Vegetative fuels will dry rapidly, and with the amount of fuel loading in the mountains and drought impacts statewide, a burn ban for all 100 counties is necessary to reduce the number of wildfires across our landscape. Please follow this burn ban to help reduce the risk for everyone.”
To learn more about preparing for and preventing wildfires, visit www.preventwildfirenc.org.
The N.C. Forest Service will continue to monitor conditions. Residents with questions regarding a specific county can contact their N.C. Forest Service county ranger or their county fire marshal’s office.
Sampson County Ranger Cody Ake can be reached at 910-592-4515, while the Sampson County Fire Marshal’s Office can be reached at 910-592-8996.