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FD council considers burning storm debris

Fort Dodge residents may in the future get an opportunity to burn leaves and branches that get blown down during storms.

However, the city’s ban on open burning of yard waste, which is suspended for several days in the spring and fall, appears likely to remain in place.

The City Council on Monday discussed the city’s open burning rules but made no final decisions.

The council seemed to agree that the city manager ought to be given the power to lift the burning ban in response to major storms such as the one on May 16 that knocked down many tree limbs and left some areas of the city without electricity for parts of three days.

However, only one councilmember expressed any interest in eliminating the ban on open burning.

“It would be my proposal to completely lift the burn ban,” Councilman Andy Fritz said.

When no other member of the council voiced support for eliminating the ban, Fritz said they were guilty of hypocrisy. He said that when fireworks rules were first discussed, most of the council members said they would not infringe on the rights of the majority by enacting a lot of rules on fireworks. He asked why there is a difference between regulating open burning and regulating fireworks.

“We’re sending conflicting messages,” he said.

“I think if you would poll the members of the council you’d find that attitudes on fireworks have changed over the last couple of days,” Councilman Terry Moehnke replied.

Fire Chief Kent Hulett told the council that the Fort Dodge Fire Department has responded to 36 burning complaints so far this year. He said in 2016, there were 73 burning complaints and there were 78 complaints in 2015.

Hulett said there has been one structure fire caused by unattended open burning.

Fire Department Capt. Paul Neeson told the council that he’s in favor of banning open burning altogether. He said the city government has “gone to great lengths” to provide a compost pile at the central garage on Eighth Avenue South where yard waste can be disposed of for free.

Suspending the burning ban in the spring and fall tends to confuse people, according to Neeson.

“I think it creates a tremendous amount of confusion in the citizens as far as can I burn or can’t I burn,” he said.

In 2010, the City Council banned open burning of yard waste except during designated periods in the spring and fall. Suspending the burning ban for those periods once required City Council action. In September 2016, the council gave the city manager the power to suspend the burning ban once in the spring and once in the fall.

Burning wood in outdoor fireplaces or fire pits remains legal in Fort Dodge. But if those fires result in complaints, city firefighters can order the property owner to put them out. Neeson said most burning complaints are the result of yard waste fires rather than fire pits or fireplaces.

Burning garbage is always illegal in Fort Dodge.

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