(Sibley)– Burn bans are now in effect for Lyon and Osceola counties of northwest Iowa as a result of the extremely dry conditions. Fire officials have determined that open burning in these counties constitutes a danger to life or property.
There are several exceptions to the burning ban. If you can obtain a permit from your fire chief, then burning is permitted as laid out in that permit. Also, the use of outdoor fireplaces, barbecue grills, properly-supervised landfills, or the burning of trash in incinerators or trash burners made of metal, concrete, masonry, or heavy one-inch wire mesh, with no openings greater than one square inch — is also still permitted.
Sibley Fire Chief Ken Huls tells us more…
He says the fire chiefs in the counties all agree that the risk is high.
Huls says grilling meat is probably fine, but think twice before lighting any other type of fire, even if it would normally be an exception to the burning ban. He says even a carelessly discarded cigarette could cause a fire quickly in these conditions. So he urges you to put out smoking materials indoors in an ashtray for now, where there is no wind or dry tinder.
Only three tenths-of-an-inch of rain fell in the Iowa Great Lakes for the entire month of September. That’s in direct contrast to just a few months ago when 16.80 inches of rain fell at the KUOO studios during June.
(Thanks to Community First Broadcasting station KIWA in Sheldon for contributing to this story)
