Mariel Williams
editor@mitchellnews.com
The Mitchell County Board of Commissioners has passed an ordinance allowing the county to declare local burn bans, and North Carolina Forest Service issued a statewide burn ban on Friday.
The commissioners passed the new ordinance in a meeting last week, and a county burn ban was declared the next day.
“It shall be unlawful for any person to start or cause to be started any fire or ignite any material to engage in brush pile burning, the burning of other debris, the maintenance of any fire, and the starting of any fires within the county during periods of hazardous forest fire conditions or during air pollution episodes as declared by the Mitchell County Fire Marshal,” County Manager Allen Cook read from the new ordinance.
The county has the power to impose fines and jail time on people who violate the burn ban.
“Any person who shall violate the provisions of this ordinance shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not more than $500 or imprisonment not more than 30 days in the discretion of the court as provided in general statute,” Cook read.
“The county may impose civil penalties of $500 per violation against the violator and property owner. Each day’s continuing violation shall be considered a separate violation for the purposes of this penalty.”
The N.C. Forest Service said the statewide ban is in effect until further notice.
“It is spring wildfire season in North Carolina, and we are seeing wildfire activity increase due to dry conditions,” Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler said in a prepared statement. “With these ongoing conditions, a statewide burn ban is necessary to reduce the risk of wildfires starting and spreading quickly. Our top priority is always to protect lives, property and forestland across the state. It is imperative that folks adhere to this burn ban until further notice.”
There have been multiple wildfires in Western North Carolina recently. Brush fires in Mitchell County have mostly been extinguished relatively quickly, but fires as close as McDowell County have taken several days of effort to bring the flames under control.
Spruce Pine Fire Chief Josh Boone told the Board of Commissioners that all he wants from the burn ban ordinance is the power to tell people to put out fires they’ve set when it’s not safe to burn.
“I’m not trying to punish anybody — I just want people to use best judgment,” Boone said.
Commissioner Steve Pitman jokingly said he was surprised that people setting debris fires pushed back against Boone’s suggestions even without an ordinance.
“Josh, I can’t imagine people give you much flack,” he said.