Fire Safety Should Be a Concern Before You Burn

10/16/2020 (Permalink)

Fall is synonymous for the falling of leaves and the yard work associated with removing them to keep your lawn tidy. In many places the leaves are racked or blown into piles bagged and placed by the curb for removal. Other locations allow the leaves to be blown into the street for cleanup and in rural communities where neither of the aforementioned methods is available, the leaves are burned. Leaf burning is an effective method, but there are perils associated with it. There have been numerous incidents where the fire has gotten out of hand and caused significant property and land damage. In order to prevent a catastrophic leaf burning incident applying the appropriate safety measures is critical.

• Make sure leaf burning is allowed in the locale you intend to burn in. If so get the proper burn permit.
• Call the fire department to make sure that the weather conditions are conducive to burning.
• Make sure to have a rack and hose at the burn site to control the fire and prevent it from getting out of hand.
• Only burn dry leaves, as wet leaves take longer to burn and produce more smoke, which would obstruct seeing escaping embers.
• Never leave the burn site unattended.
• Never burn close to a home, storage shed or other flammable items.
• Never burn when wind speeds exceed 15mph.