EAGLE, IDAHO — As the seasons change, landowners will begin to burn brush and dead branches to clear out for the dryer weather. These are safety tips and precautions that need to be taken before burning.
- Some of the advice given to those thinking about burning:
- Have a shovel.
- Have a hose.
- ONLY burn plant-based objects.
- Stay near burn so that you can manage it.
- Put out burn even if the flame is not visible.
- DO NOT use gas or fuel to hurry fire.
- For more information click here.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
It's that time of year again when landowners will be turning piles of brush into piles of ash. I'm your Eagle neighborhood reporter Alexander Huddleston and I met up with the Eagle Fire Department to discuss the safety precautions needed to be taken before you start your open burns.
As the seasons change so too does the the local landscape, as landowners begin burning brush and dead growth.
Battalion Chief Rob Shoplock explained, "In Idaho, people think a lot of times when we move here, we can burn whatever we want. But we really do want to be careful of what we are putting out in the air."
I've seen those plumes of smoke while driving around Eagle. So I stopped by the fire department to talk with Chief Shoplock about what rules and safety precautions homeowners need to keep in mind.
"Make sure they have a hose with them. A shovel, and since burning is from 8 am to sunset, we want to make sure people burn within those time frames. When people start a burn they will think, oh this is small. It will burn itself out and walk away. Then we will get calls for fences on fire, where it's escaped where they thought the perimeter would be, and once it is out, make sure it's out and not something that smolders through the night," listed Chief Shoplock.
Chief Shoplock said anyone starting a fire should only be getting rid of natural materials, like brush and branches, and not use any gas or fuel to hurry the process as that may increase the risk of starting a fire much bigger than what was intended.
Chief Shoplock finished by saying, "We get a lot of calls we don't need to be going on, but if people truly believe there is an emergency, we want them to call 911, but a lot of times we will get calls this time of year of people that will just be clearing out their ditches, getting rid of some small limbs, things like that."
The best way to help prevent false alarm calls is to just tell your neighbor when you plan on burning.
