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NC Forest Service outlines county programs and explains recent burn ban enforcement and lift
Summary
North Carolina Forest Service staff briefed Edgecombe County commissioners on local forestry programs, wildfire response and a recent temporary burn ban; officials said the ban was lifted April 2 and that county enforcement focused on fires within 100 feet of dwellings, resulting in citations for escaped burns.
Representatives of the North Carolina Forest Service briefed the Edgecombe County Board of Commissioners on April 7 about the agency's local programs, wildfire response and a recent temporary burn ban enforced in the county.
Adam Green, county ranger with the North Carolina Forest Service, described statewide and county forest facts, agency responsibilities and recent activity. He said the agency's work includes wildfire suppression, prescribed burning, forest-management planning, water-quality inspections related to logging, and public education.
Green said that in Edgecombe County during the previous year the agency prepared 20 forest-management plans covering about 1,912 acres, inspected 28 logging sites and responded to 57 wildfires totaling about 104 acres. He also said the county's staff complement for forestry work is three people: a county ranger, an assistant county ranger (vacant at the time of the meeting) and an equipment operator.
On the subject of a recent burn ban, Green said the county and the state had been using mutual-aid resources to respond to increased wildfire activity in parts of the state and that the commissioner of agriculture had issued a statewide ban that the county followed. "We only have jurisdiction 100 feet from an occupied dwelling," Green said, describing the county's enforcement boundary; he added that the county and fire marshal's office coordinated enforcement inside that 100-foot zone.
Green said the burn ban was lifted April 2. He reported that during the ban enforcement period the county issued several warnings and that, in cases where burns escaped control, the county issued citations. "During that time frame of about two weeks, I think we ended up writing five or six state citations for people burning during the burn ban," Green said.
Antoine Brown, Edgecombe County emergency-services director, added that many calls during the ban involved people burning trash, which is not lawful under state air-quality rules, and that the sheriff's office assisted with enforcement. Brown and Green both emphasized partnerships with local fire departments, state and federal agencies and mutual-aid arrangements for wildfire response.
County leaders thanked the forestry staff for their work; Green encouraged residents to contact the county ranger for forest-health assessments and forest-management assistance.
