Burn Permits Considered

— Open burning in the city will soon require a Fire Department permit.

The City Council approved a change Tuesday in the process residents must follow in order to have an open fire. The changes will go into effect in 30 days.

Fire Chief Mike Irwin proposed the ordinance, which he said would educate people on how and what items they can burn.

At A Glance

Springdale Burn Permits

Items not allowed to be burned in a permitted controlled open fire:

-Garbage

-Tree trunks and branches larger than 4 inches in diameter

-Treated, milled or dimensional lumber

-Trade waste

-Motor vehicles or salvage waste

-Asphalt or composition roofing

-Tar, tar paper, petroleum products, plastics or paint

-Insulated wire

-Dead animals or animal waste

-Hazardous or pathogenic waste

Source: Springdale Fire Department

The permit will require people to go to Fire Station No. 1 to apply for the permit. The permit is good for 14 days. Irwin proposed a cost of $10 for the permit, but the council removed the fee before the ordinance was approved.

“It’s up to the council to decide how they wanted the ordinance,” Irwin said. “The important part was education of people on what they can burn.”

Burning debris from 4-year-old turkey houses was one incident that led to the ordinance, Irwin said.

“We’ve had people burn the insulation off of copper wire,” he said. “People have burned all sorts of things. We have to get better control.”

Fire Department officials have a list of material that cannot be burned and plan to give it to those applying for a permit. The approved list is short: yard waste — such as tree limbs, grass clippings and leaves.

Only limbs smaller than 4 inches in diameter can be burned. Larger limbs can be picked up through the city’s bulky waste program by calling 479-750-8135.

Alderman Jim Reed agreed the Fire Department needs better control of open burning, but said he objects to the inconvenience of requiring individuals to go to the main fire station. Reed supported removing the proposed fee.

“Call it what you want, it’s still an added tax to people,” Reed said. “It’s like the tea tax in Boston. Everybody didn’t have to drink tea and pay the tax, but it still caused the Boston Tea Party.”

The fee would have covered the cost of the permitting process, Irwin said.

Going to Station No. 1, at 417 Holcomb St., isn’t easy for people who work during the day, Reed said. Getting the permit online or over the phone would be easier, he said.

Only the first burn permit obtained during a year would require a trip to Station No. 1, Irwin said. After that, a phone call would be sufficient, he said. A list of the material not permitted in an open burn will be on the department website.

The hours when a permit can be obtained have been expanded to 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

Outdoor cooking and recreational fires will not require a permit, Irwin said. Reed said he likes the ordinance better after those fires were allowed.

Previously, controlled burns were allowed by following a simple procedure: Those wishing to burn would call the department and give the address. They would be told what could and couldn’t be burned, said Kevin McDonald, assistant fire chief.

If someone saw the fire and called 911, firefighters would check a chalkboard in the station to see if the reported fire was a controlled burn, McDonald said.

“We have no idea how many controlled burns we have each year,” Irwin said. “If they were burning something we didn’t allow, they would say nobody told them. This way, there is no doubt they have been told.”

Firefighters responded to 313 controlled burns in the last year, according to dispatch records. That number reflects only the burns that were called in, Irwin said. It doesn’t include burns that were well-tended and didn’t spark a phone call.

The burning of the turkey houses on Grimsley Road led to a citation. Firefighters cited Edward Hoepfner of Siloam Springs because they said he didn’t have a burn permit; had too large a fire; didn’t have enough people watching the fire; flames were allowed to spread to another property; plastics were burned; and the fire was allowed to burn after dark.

Hoepfner’s court date is Feb. 28, according to Springdale District Court records.

Hoepfner couldn’t be reached for comment. No telephone number was on the citation and the only number listed for Hoepfner was out of service.

The same night of the turkey house fire, a controlled burn at 1024 E. Don Tyson Parkway was extinguished. The unattended fire, which spread to the grounds of a church next door, was first reported at 11 p.m.

No citations were given, since the person who set the fire couldn’t be found, according to Fire Department records.

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