Residents urge exceptions for prescribed burns; commissioners say future burn bans will remain until adequate moisture

Members of a Prescribed Burn Association told the Board that Richland County’s burn ban has hindered carefully planned spring prescribed burns. George King said the association spends months planning and that “they only have a small window to burn in the spring,” urging allowance of prescribed burns in evenings or when conditions are not severe if proper procedures are followed.

Brett Lambrecht distributed a list of fires and locations called into Dispatch on May 16, and Sheri Ruhl reported that “9 or 10 citations were issued over the weekend during the burn ban.” The transcript records confusion about public messaging: the burn ban had been lifted on Sunday but remained listed on the state map, which staff and commissioners described as confusing to residents. The board reached consensus that when a burn ban is put in place in the future it will remain in effect daily until an adequate amount of moisture has been received before rescinding.

No formal change to the current declaration was recorded at the meeting beyond that operational consensus about future declarations; members asking for exceptions were told to follow commission procedures if they wished to pursue formal changes.