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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us March 22, 2005 Open season By Jennifer Squires Ashland Daily Tidings There's no need to call the fire department. The plumes of light gray smoke drifting up from the edges of the valley are OK - for now. Van Tribble takes advantage of cool, moist weather to burn five piles of debris on his property southwest of Talent. Open and barrel burning are permitted outside of Ashland and Medford from March 1 until fire season is declared, but only on days when enough air is moving through the Valley. Photo by Reagan Fransway | For the Tidings Open burn season began March 1 and on any day when there is enough air movement in the Valley, residents in the county, Talent and Phoenix can legally burn debris on their property until the state declares fire season in late spring or early summer. "This is the time for people to do it," said Van Tribble as he tended to the largest of the five burn piles smoldering in his side yard. "I probably haven't done anything in a couple of years." Tribble spent Monday afternoon torching small piles of trimmings from his fruit trees and noxious plants that had taken over the quarter-acre side yard southwest of Talent. He wanted to reclaim the land and clear his property, as well as reduce the vegetation that causes the fire danger. "What I'm doing is, we have a lot of brush," said Tribble. "We pruned all these trees and we're burning the refuse from the trees. ... It's going to get dry this summer." Although people use open burn season to torch items such as cardboard, newspapers and clippings from plants, the sanctioned burns are ideal for property owners to burn away material that could fuel summer fires. "We'd like for them to do it," said Jackson County Fire District 5 Chief Richard Scowden. "They clean up their land and burn it." However, people can't just start a pile of trash blazing and leave it to burn out. Department of Environmental Quality regulates the types of items that can be burnt - no tires or couches, for example - and the days open burns are allowed. The ventilation index, which measures the amount of airflow in the Valley, must be above 400. Illegal burns - those at night, on a non-burn day or burning "bad stuff" - fall into the jurisdiction of the DEQ, although the fire department will respond to contain open burns that are out of control. "Generally, we try to play the good guys," Scowden said. "If you do have an open burn and you lose control of it, you are financially responsible for everything it burns. That's the big one I usually tell everyone." Rules For Open Burning On County Land o A burn permit must be on file with Jackson County Fire District 5. o No burning is allowed on days when the ventilation index is below 400. o Burn piles must be no bigger than four feet in diameter and not over three feet high. o An open burn fire must be at least 25 feet from the nearest combustible material or structure; a barrel fire must have a 10-foot diameter cleared around it. o Burning is allowed only during daylight hours. o An open-burn fire must be watched at all times. o Fires must be extinguished if conditions develop that could cause the fire to spread, such as increased winds. o The following material cannot be burned: wet garbage, plastic, wire insulation, automobile parts, asphalt, petroleum products, petroleum-treated material, rubber products, animal remains, leftover food or any other material that emits dense smoke or noxious odors. People must call the DEQ office in Medford to find out if its a burn day or not. Residents of Ashland and Medford are not permitted to have open burns on their property. If it is a burn day, don't call the fire department about those little plumes of smoke. "Ashland's famous for it," said Scowden, explaining the patchwork city-county land allocation in Ashland means a city resident's next-door neighbors may be allowed to burn in their front yard. "The very first day of burn season, we were getting calls left and right." Fire District 5 still gets two or three calls a day about open burns. When the caller doesn't know the source of the smoke, it's classified as a potential structure fire and the station is emptied. "When we get called out for a structure fire, everybody goes out and it turns out to be an open burn," said Scowden. "If it's a burn day, we'd rather not get the call." Open burn season continues through the start of fire season and reopens when fire season has ended in the fall. No burning is allowed from November to February. People who do plan on burning on their property need to fill out a burn permit, which covers the conditions of open burns. The permits are available through Fire District 5 and last for two years. To find out if today is a burn day, call 776-7007. Staff writer Jennifer Squires can be reached at 482-3456 x 3019 or [email protected]. 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