Open burning and fire safety
It is that time of the year when everybody wants to get out of the house and start doing some cleaning around the yard by burning the brush pile or all that tall dead grass. It is open burning season until April 30 at midnight.
On May 1, you will need to call Tribal Division of Fire (676-2550) for a free burn permit. The permit number will be given to you over the phone. Write the permit number down. The permit is good for 10 days.
Regardless of whether you are burning during the open burning season or with a permit, please call Lake County Dispatch at (883-7301) and tell the dispatcher your name, your contact phone number, where you are burning and when you are going to burn.
The fire should be out before it starts to get dark. We ask you to call dispatch everytime before you burn so that when your neighbors see the flames and call it in, the dispatchers have a record of you being authorized to burn and that the fire department does not have to be called out. Please take the time to make the area where you are burning safe so the fire will not spread to somewhere you don’t want to burn. Pull a hose over to the location if possible. Materials that can be burned are yard wastes such as leaves, prunings from bushes, trees, etc. You cannot be burning tires, household waste, or construction waste.
A note of caution; any of the tall dead grasses you wish to burn, can and will burn hotter and faster than you may expect. You can get large flames out of these types of fires. Please be careful. If the fire gets away from you and extends onto someone else’s property, you could have to pay for any damages to property or costs involved in bringing your fire under control.
Here locally, we have been experiencing winds that are not normal for this area. Please take the time and check the weather for the forecasted winds before you start your burn pile. The winds will have an impact on how fast the fire will burn and how far it will burn.
Fire Safe Montana is coming to the KwaTaqNuk Resort April 9 starting at 6:15 p.m., then again on April 10 starting at 9 a.m. and will go all day with various topics. It is suggested that you pre-register. You can go online to www.firesafemt.org. If you have questions regarding such things as how to help the fire department protect your home please come and be part of the program.
We wish to remind all area residents to please take the time to make sure proper address numbers are posted on your property and can be seen from a responding emergency vehicle. Many addresses are not posted and the only way emergency help can find you is if the address is posted where it can be seen.
If you have a long driveway, please post your numbers out on the roadway. There are some properties in the area that share a common lane and all the addresses are posted on one sign board. In this case, please post your address numbers again near your driveway.
Please help all emergency services in your area to have the best response when you have an emergency whether it a fire, EMS or law enforcement. Seconds count when you are in dire circumstances.