Kosciusko County issued a burn ban effective at noon Wednesday.
Neighboring Marshall and Fulton counties already had a ban in place.
According to a disaster emergency proclamation signed by the Kosciusko County Commissioners, the county is “immediately threatened by a natural disaster, specifically countywide drought conditions.” The Kosciusko County Fireman’s Association requested the establishment of a burn ban, and the National Weather Service, U.S. Drought Monitor, has declared the county to be within a drought region and expects the drought to intensify with no rain predicted for at least another week.
The commissioners’ “wish is that the residents of Kosciusko County continue to use good sense during this period of drought by not subjecting themselves to potential personal liability by unnecessary use of outdoor fires.”
As of noon Wednesday, the commissioners “find that Kosciusko County to be at risk of widespread fire hazards because of drought conditions” and “a countywide burn ban affecting certain activities is an appropriate public safety response to the fire hazards presented by the current drought conditions.”
The proclamation declares that a state of emergency exists in the county and the commissioners “invoke and declare those portions of the Indiana code which are applicable to the conditions and have caused the issuance of this proclamation to be in full force and effect in the county for the exercise of all necessary emergency authority for protection of the lives and property of the people of Kosciusko County.”
The proclamation declares that, effective immediately, the following activities are prohibited in Kosciusko County:
• Campfires and other recreation fires, unless enclosed in a fire ring with dimensions of 23 inches in diameter by 10 inches high or larger.
• Burning in burn barrels, unless the barrel is equipped with a one-fourth-inch mesh top from dawn to dusk only.
• Open burning of any kind using conventional fuel such as wood, or other combustible matter, with the exception of grills fueled by charcoal briquettes or propane. Charcoal from permitted grills shall not be removed from the grills until the charcoal has been thoroughly extinguished.
• The burning of debris, such as timber or vegetation, including such debris that results from building construction activities.
• Use of personal fireworks, with the exception of organized permitted fireworks displays when the local fire department is on site.
The disaster emergency proclamation shall be in effect for up to 30 days or until rescinded.