Northwest, Iowa — Lyon and Sioux Counties have put in a “Burn Ban” effective immediately since conditions in the counties are such that open burning constitutes a danger to life or property.
According to Lyon County Emergency Management, a Burn Ban is a Resolution limiting open burning within a county by the Board County Commission. A Burn Ban prohibits the building, maintaining, attending or using any open fire or campfire except in permanent stoves, fireplaces or barbecue grills in developed recreational sites or residential lawns when there is an imminent threat that could be caused by fire.
If you have any questions, please feel free to call Arden Kopischke, the Lyon County Emergency Management/E-911 Coordinator at his office at 712-472-8330, or the Sioux County Sheriff’s Office at 712-737-3307.
Kopischke tells us what prompted the burning ban.
Even after we talked to Kopischke, KIWA received word of several more grass fires in northwest Iowa.
Kopischke says the burning ban will continue until conditions change, which is dependent on the weather.
He says people need to think about how their actions could start a fire.
Kopischke says the penalty for a burning ban violation is written into the code, and would be a misdemeanor, enforced by the Sheriff’s Office at the request of the fire department involved.
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