A burn ban for unincorporated areas of Allen County will go into effect at midnight today.
The timing didn’t interfere with use of fireworks, an outcome that wasn’t lost on commissioners.
“A ban can’t take effect until it’s published,” said Chairman Dick Works, saying he had preferred it not interfere with Fourth of July festivities. A publication making the ban official is in today’s Register, as well as the Humboldt Union.
The outcome delighted Sandy Mintz, who operates Jake’s Fireworks at the south edge of town. At Tuesday’s meeting she was prepared to protest if the ban had affected sale and use of fireworks.
Iola, Humboldt and other cities are not obligated to the rulings. Iola has banned open burning for years, but this was the first year since the early 1900s that lighting fireworks was permitted in the city.
Commissioner Rob Francis mentioned to Don Leapheart, Iola fire chief, that delaying the ban might lead to his firefighters having to respond to fires caused by fireworks.
“That’s what we get paid to do,” was Leapheart’s response.
Leapheart said he would dispatch a truck to Gas — Iola has some extraterritorial firefighting responsibilities — ahead of the fireworks display Wednesday evening to wet grass in the area. Firefighters also stood by at Elks Lake for another Wednesday evening public display.
While burning will be banned starting Friday morning, Sheriff Tom Williams will weigh requests for burns and permit those that seem reasonable, he said.
A call to 911 will start the process.
Also, outdoor grilling won’t be affected by the ban, but simple trash-burning in rural areas will.
ALLEN COUNTY has no means to offer tax relief for construction of residences, Wayne Barnett was told.
Barnett said he planned to build a second duplex to rent and asked whether the county had, or could, include it in a program similar to Iola and Humboldt’s neighborhood revitalization zones.
“We seriously should think about something,” Francis said. “We’ll look into what other counties are doing.”
