Burn permits may be available soon

Outdoor burningwill become a daily issue with the Fort Bragg Fire Department, as well as other departments throughout our county in the next month or so. The statewide burn ban is still in effect and will continue to be in effectuntil the state lifts it. The time frame is unknown, but a good guess would be Nov. 1.

Every year it seems that some people in our community think that as soon as it rains they are given the green light toburn. This isnot true and could potentially end up with citations and fines for people making that assumption. Even when the ban is liftedthere are rules inplace for outdoor burning. Permits have to be acquired.

Depending on your location, youmayhavetogotoCal Fire or your local fire agency to get a permit. The other rule states that you can only burn on an Air Quality based permissive burn day. To find out if it’s a burn day, there is a recorded message through Air Quality at 707-463- 4391, which is changed daily to reflect the current day’s status. As of now, this recording will say that the burnban is in effect. There are other ways of gettingburnday information. For instance, KOZTnormally has burn day status on their web page.

Outdoor burning is a great way to get rid of unwanted vegetation. Fire departments in most cases support outdoor burning as a way of clearing vegetation in the cooler, wetter months tominimize dry or dead vegetation inthewarmer, dryermonths of fire season. Outdoor burning is a great tool, and if not abused, will continue to be a helpful tool in preparing for the next fire season.

Fort Bragg Fire will only write burnpermits after the burn ban is lifted for anyone within the FBFDfire district. Permits are not allowed to be written ahead of time.