LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The annual burn ban in Lake County starts on Friday, May 1.
All burn permits expire on April 30. The burn restriction applies to all areas in Lake County.
The Lake County Air Quality Management District said the annual ban addresses concerns over both fire hazard and air quality.
The burn ban includes all open waste burning, though exemptions are possible for agricultural operations, essential control burns for fire hazard reduction projects, public safety burns, and others.
The annual burn ban was first implemented in 1986 in response to weather conditions that often create extreme fire danger and poor air quality.
Air Pollution Control Officer Doug Gearhart said a managed approach incorporating fire and air agency concerns has been implemented and improved upon for many years.
He said the ban allows a quick fire agency response to all fires observed from May 1 on, as they are all assumed to be uncontrolled fires unless specifically authorized by an exemption permit.
Gearhart said the program is one of the primary reasons Lake County has superior and healthful air quality.
To obtain an exemption permit to burn after May 1st, first contact Air Quality Management at 707-263-7000 to determine need, then contact your local fire agency so that your burn site can be inspected for fire safety.
After the fire agency notifies the air district that the proposed burn site is fire safe then an exemption permit may be obtained from the air district.
Anyone responsible for open burning during the ban without an exemption permit may be subject to citation, fines, and fire agency response costs to extinguish the fire. Burn restrictions will remain in effect until Cal Fire declares an end to fire season.
Cal Fire requires permits in state responsibility area
Cal Fire also announced that beginning May 1 it will require a burn permit for any outdoor open burning in state responsibility areas in the following counties Sonoma, Lake, Napa, Marin, Solano, Yolo and Colusa counties.
Cal Fire burn permits are required every year after May 1 to conduct open burning in the state responsibility area.
The Cal Fire permit is required in addition to an air quality permit and any local fire agency permit. For more information, contact your local Cal Fire station or your local fire department, and the Lake County Air Quality Management District at 707-263-7000.
Cal Fire burn permits are available online. Applicants will access the website, watch the mandatory video which reviews burning requirements and safety tips, fill in the required fields, submit the form, and a dooryard burn permit will be created. The applicant must then print the permit.
Permits are valid for the calendar year in which they are issued and must be reissued annually on or after Jan. 1 of each year.
Contact your local fire department or Cal Fire to determine what permit requirements or burning restrictions apply in your area and always call or check with the Air Quality Management District to confirm burn day status prior to igniting a fire.
For larger burn projects, a different Cal Fire burn permit is required and shall be obtained from Cal Fire. This type of burn permit is not available online and will require a Cal Fire inspection before a permit will be issued. Please call your local Cal Fire station for information on obtaining and setting up an inspection.
Cal Fire Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit Chief Shana Jones reminded residents to take precautions while burning outdoors to prevent sparking a wildfire.
A leading cause of wildfires this time of year is from escaped landscape debris burning. Anyone who has an escaped debris burn and was not burning under the proper conditions can be criminally or civilly held responsible.
Ensure that piles from landscape debris are no larger than 4 feet in diameter, have a 10-foot clearance down to bare mineral soil around the burn pile and that a responsible adult is in attendance at all times with a water source and a shovel.
Lake County burn ban begins May 1; Cal Fire requires permits for SRA burns
- Lake County News reports
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