Residents urged to check conditions before burning

If the recent weeks have been any indicator of the season, we may be heading into abnormally dry conditions for Eddy County. Emergency Manager Jess Earle encourages residents to check fire conditions prior to burning. Various conditions (including air moisture, recent precipitation, wind speed and direction) all influence current fire danger and the potential for a burn ban to be put in place.

If and when an actual ban is triggered, it would encompass all of the county’s incorporated except the City of New Rockford, and would include the burning of crop land, garbage burning, campfires, unauthorized off-road motorized travel, and smoking except for an improved area with a radius of three feet that is free of flammable debris.

On April 16, the Eddy County Commission issued a Fire Emergency Declaration and Burn Ban Proclamation for the county. This gives the commission the authority to automatically put a burn ban into effect when the North Dakota Fire Danger Rating is Very High or Extreme and/or a Red Flag Warning has been issued for the county.

Note, these conditions can and do change rapidly, so it is important that residents check current fire conditions before burning.

Call Eddy County Emergency Manager Jess Earle at (701) 650-2085 or check the ND Response website for burn ban restrictions and fire danger maps. Go to https://www.ndresponse.gov and click on the “Fire Danger Information” icon.

As of Thursday at press time, the fire danger for Eddy County was high, which is one step below the “Very High” rating that triggers the ban.