Wicomico Co. issues burn ban, fire fighter gives tips to prevent fire damage

WICOMICO COUNTY, Md. – A burn ban was issued in Wicomico County, carrying a $500 fine per incident.

Salisbury fire chief, Rob Frampton, said it’s all in an effort to prevent people from burning brush or trash in their yard, as the county suffers this dry period.

“Now is also the time of the year where people are doing leaf clean ups. They’re cleaning up their yards, leaves are falling, they’re raking things up into piles; a lot of people burn those off and all that’s going to do is give a higher chance for cause of a natural fire,” Frampton said.

When a burn ban is not in effect, there are safe ways to burn brush. Frampton said keeping fires at least 250 feet away from structures and ensuring that certain tools are nearby can prevent a fire from getting out of control.

“If you’re going to burn stuff outside, you should always have a garden hose or a fire extinguisher nearby and readily available for you to use,” Frampton said.

And you should never leave a fire unattended, even if it’s under control.

“When you do it during the nighttime and the evening, which is what most people do, they get home from work and then it lays there, and it smolders overnight, there’s not as many eyes to see it. Then they call 911, so then we would get a call late, then it’s a lot more damage,” Frampton said.