A reminder from C-PTPA about fire season
By Kevin Korbel, Fire Program Planner for Clearwater-Potlatch Timber Protection Association (C-PTPA)
If you are going to burn there are certain precautions you must take.
1. Obtain a burning permit during closed fire season, May 10 to Oct. 20.
2. Call C-PTPA, Idaho Department of Lands, Clearwater County Sheriff’s Office, or the rural fire department that has responsibility for your area.
3. Check air shed restrictions at 1-800 - 442-0351.
4. Plan ahead.
5. Have enough help, water, tools and equipment to do the job.
6. Don’t leave your burn until it is dead out.
If you burn in a barrel, there are certain measures you must take.
1. You need a burning permit.
2. The burn barrel must be in good condition, set up on noncombustible blocks.
3. There must be a one-half inch screen enclosing the top of the barrel.
4. Keep combustible fuel cleared ten feet around the barrel.
5. Keep a hose charged with water close by.
6. Watch the barrel until it is dead out.
As of Tuesday, Oct. 13, we have not had enough precipitation to lift the pile burning restrictions. It does appear the rain is coming and how much rain we receive this week will help us make a decision to hopefully begin giving pile permits.
After Oct. 20 you do not need a permit to burn. However, if we do not receive enough precipitation to safely burn and your pile escapes, we would need to put your fire out and you would be billed.
After the 20th, please give our fire staff a call before you burn. We will be glad to recommend if you should be burning or wait for more precipitation.
We would like to remind hunters and campers to choose a safe area for campfires and please put them dead out. This past weekend we responded to three fires, two of them were hunters’ fires.
Friday, .36 of an acre burned near Weippe, the cause still unknown. On Saturday, a hunter’s fire burned one-tenth of an acre at Gold Butte. Then, on Sunday, another hunter’s fire burned one-tenth of an acre near Flume Creek below Bertha Hill.
Hopefully, it will rain this week and we can finally end fire season. We thank you for your patience with the burn permit process and for helping us through the 2009 fire season.