| As Fall arrives, many homeowners think about outdoor projects – and often yard clean up leads to creating a pile of brush for burning. In the wake of very dry weather this year, and a last year’s dry fall when numerous fires led to an outdoor burning bad across Chester County, the West Grove Fire Company is often asked a lot of questions about burning, so here are some do’s and don’ts:
• Do check with your municipality office for brush burning regulations.
• Don’t burn after dark – the WGFC gets many emergency fire calls because flames are visible at distance at night.
• Don’t burn rubber, oil, plastic, trash, etc. – only brush and leaves, etc.
• Do keep an eye on the fire – keep an eye out for fire spread – and keep a rake or shovel handy to push material back into the pile.
• Do have a hose nearby and be ready to extinguish the fire if necessary (it’s already too late to find a hose, connect it, and turn it on to put out a fire that has spread!).
• Don’t ever burn in close proximity to structures.
• Don’t burn on a windy day to avoid fire spread…
• …and Don’t be that person who builds a smokey fire that blows into your neighbors’ yards (get that fire hot before piling on more material and smoking up your development).
• And, most importantly, do call the Chester County Fireboard on their non-emergency line (610-436-4700) before and after burning – they keep a list of planned burns and can help avoid the fire company being called out in full force to extinguish your fire!
For more tips, see the website link from Smokey the Bear. |
