Burn Ban Continues in Southeast Ohio
Muskingum County- Those hoping to have a bonfire will have to wait longer to do so. We are almost one month into a ban on open burning in 24 counties in Ohio.
In our area those under a ban include Guernsey, Licking, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble and Perry Counties. These counties have been identified by the United States Drought Monitoring System Map as being in the extreme or exceptional drought categories. Experts said drought conditions can linger for a period of time despite rain events.
“The rain that we’ve had is certainly nice to have. It’s a breath of fresh air in some regard, “said State Fire Marshal Kevin Reardon. “It is in no way close to replenishing the amount of moisture we need to have in our soil in affected burn ban area. It’s just not enough.”
Examples of activities prohibited by the ban include burning of debris, waste and vegetation, campfires and bonfires, discarding lit or smoldering materials like matches or cigarettes, using or discharging fireworks, live-fire training, flame effects like sky lanterns and spark machines and using heat producing devices for recreational purposes.
“We don’t want anything to happen in any of those counties that are affected by the burn ban and we’ve already had fires in several of the counties,” explained Reardon. “They’ve been contained easily, but we’ve had those fires so it does and is happening.”
Acceptable open flame-related activities include indoor cooking, outdoor cooking with electric stoves/cooking elements or propane/liquid fueled cooking as permitted in this order and use of non-flame based heating or electrical devices.
