April 13, 2015

Open Burning Rules and Regulations

The McKenzie County Office of Emergency Management and the Upper Missouri District Health Unit are working together to get safety information out on open burning.

“There has been much confusion within McKenzie County on the proper steps people should take for open burning.” says Karolin Jappe, McKenzie County Emergency Manager. “That is why we want to take this opportunity to educate the community on the process and how to burn safely.”

The first place to start is to get a burn permit application from UMDHU. This application can be found on their website at www.umdhu.org. Oil, rubber, asphalt and other materials that produce unreasonable amounts of air contaminants cannot be burned. Companies cannot get burn permits for anything considered trade waste such as pallets, spools etc and will have to find alternative methods of disposal. Agricultural burning does not need a permit but should still follow the rest of the steps. The permit application will need to be filled out completely and returned to the UMDHU Williston office during regular business hours which includes a signature of the Fire Chief. The permit if granted is then valid for 60 days.

After receiving the permit the instructions on the permit need to be followed. Most importantly the McKenzie County Sheriff’s department will need to be notified at least two hours prior to the burn. Burning activities must be attended and supervised at all times burning is in progress and burning is not allowed if the Fire Index is in the High, Very High, or Extreme category and/or a Red Flag Warning has been issued for McKenzie County, North Dakota. See the following website for Fire Index. http://www.weather.gov/bis/fire

Grass fires can be dangerous and every year in the Unites States result in loss of lives and property. The McKenzie County Office of Emergency Management and UMDHU know that the people in McKenzie County realize how devastating that can be. For more information contact Karolin Jappe at 701-580-6936 or Daphne Clark (UMDHU) at 877-572-3763.