By Mondell Keck | The Brookings Register
BROOKINGS — The burn ban in the county isn’t going away anytime soon, a notion reinforced on a 5-0 vote to sustain it at the May 19 meeting of the Brookings County Commission.
Residents can blame Mother Nature’s finickiness; a distinct lack of moisture played a large role in the decision to extend the ban, which has been in effect since April 7.
“Right now, Brookings County — yes, we got rain, but it looks like two-tenths or less and I’m not even sure it’s county wide,” Emergency Manager Bob Hill told commissioners.
He said 99% of the county is categorized by the U.S. Drought Monitor as being in D1 — or moderate — drought conditions, with a small portion in the Lake Poinsett area being in the abnormally dry category.
“I just find it hard to recommend that we come out of the burn ban right now,” Hill concluded.
His observations sparked discussion among the commissioners.
“Did we have communications with (Volga Fire Chief Dave Jacobsen) and his recommendations were to leave it in place?” Commissioner Shawn Hostler inquired.
“That is correct,” Commissioner Dave Miller replied. “He reached out to some of the other fire chiefs, and they felt like it was best that we leave that ban in place for now.”
Jacobsen also serves as president of the Brookings County Firefighters Association.
“When the time comes, by all means we need to take the burn ban off,” Hill said, noting that it should come up again for discussion at future commission meetings. “We understand that. We’re not trying to restrict our farmers from making a livelihood out here, but we don’t need a massive fire, especially wind driven.”
He said if someone absolutely must burn, there are procedures in place that involve notifying dispatchers by calling 605-692-2113 and getting in contact with a local fire chief.
“If the conditions are appropriate, they can do a controlled burn, but that’s fire department by fire department,” Hill said.
A deep dive into the county’s rules regarding the burn ban — including exceptions to it, such as burn barrels, grills or designated campgrounds, provided safety guidelines are followed — can be found online at https://tinyurl.com/2k9zhx3n.
Commissioner Kelly VanderWal shared his thoughts as well.
“Those fires that have been taking place, they’ve been done under local control,” he pointed out. “Those fire chiefs have dealt with those individuals, and it’s been working.”
VanderWal, too, was disappointed that the forecasted rain this past weekend more or less went around the county, going north and south and leaving the area bereft of much-needed moisture.
“It is what it is, and we’re here today to deal with that,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sheriff Marty Stanwick pointed out that a recent grass fire near Brookings was caused by fireworks, and that charges have been filed in the incident.
“That was before what little rain we got, but I agree with Bob,” Stanwick said about continuing the burn ban.
Hill spoke to another fire incident near Lake Poinsett involving a vehicle. “Those are going to happen … fire departments will put them out as they need to, but we don’t need to overwork or put extra stress on our firefighting capabilities unnecessarily.”
Commissioner Larry Jensen emphasized that even if a burn ban wasn’t in effect, people needing to burn should let dispatch know to prevent confusion among the public and the potential for mistakenly sending firefighters out on an unnecessary call.
In closing, Commissioner Doug Post said that the county might want to consider reworking some of its rules regarding burn bans when it gets an opportunity to do so. In the here and now, though, he recommended that people use some common sense.
“Always call in so we don’t have our emergency personnel dropping everything they’re doing to run to a fire,” he said. “Please, just call it in first. That should be the standard procedure, and a ban should be a ban.”
— Contact Mondell Keck at [email protected].
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