Outdoor Burn Safety

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Local law enforcement say you can be fined when burning debris outside.

A few grass fires got out of control in the region this weekend.

After deciding to burn some leaves, one lady’s fire in Glyndon soon got out of control on Sunday and burned acres of land.

People wonder why others are burning in our current weather conditions.

Warren Abdo of Dilworth said, “I don’t understand it, I guess if you lived out in the country, and you had like rocks around there or someplace, where you can burn your trash and stuff… but ah no, there shouldn’t be any burning.”

Burn bans can be put in place which stops all burning for at least four weeks, but preventing these out of control fires is in the hands of the community.

Clay County Sheriff Bill Bergquist said,”Once you do start a fire you need to call the dispatch center so we know you are burning. But, you have to remember that when you start a fire in the morning, when it might be calm, by afternoon it’s windy that’s the chance you take.”

Even one little flame can do a whole lot of damage. In Dilworth neighbors rushed to put out a fire apparently started by two children with matches in extremely dry grass, close to many houses.”

Tracy Lund who lives right around the corner from the fire said, “It was pretty shocking, I mean I can’t imagine if you were gone and seeing your back yard all chard and stuff like that.”

The best thing to do is to wait for a little green to start showing on your property, so you can avoid these dangerous situations.

If you do burn, make sure to get a burn permit by your local fire department, so you skip out on a hefty fine of $125.00.