Southern York County Life

I don’t know if anyone happened to have read the letter to the editor in Sunday’s newspaper in which some chap seems to believe that the current burn ban is unfair. It appears to me they don’t have both oars in the water. Mitch Rohrbach of Hallam mentions that brush fires are caused by careless people who do not exercise common sense. This is true to a certain extent. There are other sources of ignition of brush fires, i.e. lightning for one which is referred to by insurance companies as an Act of God. For this chap to say that the burn ban is simply another way of taking away people’s freedom and controlling the masses more is hogwash! This character has gone way over board by implying what’s next banning driving if it snows. Okay, I’ll give him credit for that one as that did happen on more than one occasion when PennDOT took it upon themselves to not clear interstate and state roads to prevent people from driving. Thank heavens that headache is no longer in charge of PennDOT. This character is implying that the government dictates what we can and cannot do and in doing so violate our constitutional rights. I can agree with that statement to a certain extent, but honestly, I don’t see where that statement applies to the county wide burn ban or municipal burn bans.

I think all the fire chiefs in the county need to send a rebuttal letter to the editor to educate this village idiot.

I definately think burn bans are necessary when it’s too dry to keep us all safe.  But I have to admit I was thinking the other day about those who burn their trash, that would suck, are there alternatives for them to prevent that from sitting around and attracting pests?  I would think that if you always burned your own trash, you would do it responsibly.  My grandfather had a farm in Ohio, where I spent summers as a child, he always wet the ground around the burn barrels and tended it the entire time.  I do understand the concern, and didn’t read the article, but maybe this guy feels like his rights are being violated on his own property or that he shouldn’t be inconvienenced because others don’t practice common sense, while he always does.

The following is my personal opinion and not that of any fire or EMS organization I might be involved with…

Unfortunately common sense does not seem to prevail with many of those that burn around here. Placing a burn barrel or burn area in the woods… burning on a windy day… no hose line nearby… unattended burning… burning next to a field full of corn stubble… burning tires (which is illegal according to DEP)…

I am not saying everyone that burns is irresponsible. Just enough to make it a problem. Brush fires can quickly get out of hand and require quite a lot of manpower to put them out correctly. They also take a lot of time to deal with which takes volunteer fire fighters away from family, work and other emergencies.

Besides the fire hazards, many items that people choose to burn also can be dangerous. Plastics and foams in old furniture give off toxic fumes. I am referring to cyanide gases (used to be used in execution gas chambers). Then there is also the environmental issue of run off from the ash which often contains toxins. Other items I have found in burn areas include batteries, mattresses, aerosol cans, and pesticide/herbicide containers.

Yes, thinking about those items you’ve brought up, there have got to be alternatives for hazardous types of refuse, so there must be for regular (burnable) trash, but what is the cost (assuming at a dump)?  Perhaps that could be waived for those affected during a ban, then everyone stays safe and happy!

Trash collection is big money… I doubt a dump would ever accept anything for free. Most of this stuff should not even be thrown away in your normal garbage, but many do.