Commissioners discuss changing burning resolution

By Lauren DeMott, staff writer
The McPherson Sentinel
Posted Apr 20, 2010 @ 03:11 PM
McPherson County -

Dillard Webster, Emergency Management director, discussed the possibility of reviewing the County's burn ban policy. Currently a burn ban is issued by the county commissioners at each week's meeting and is not reviewed again until the next week's meeting.
Webster recommended the commissioners add the following to the burning resolution: 1. utilize the National Weather Service's (NWS) "Red Flag Warning." It is updated daily and can be easily monitored by everyone 2. if a burn is requested on a "Red Flag Warning" day, it would be decided by the district Fire Chief 3. The decision to use the NWS warning could be approved one time instead of weekly.
Webster said some of the fire chiefs told him they didn't want number two included because there should be no burning on red flag days. Although the "Red Flag Warning" is issued by county and sometimes parts of the county have better burning conditions than others.
Commissioners decided they would take the week to look over materials and think about a solution. Webster will come back to next week's meeting to discuss it further.