Local fire departments have asked that Brown County Commissioners look at the county’s fire prevention and protection ordinance and consider a revision.
Hamblen Volunteer Fire Department Chief Arlan Pierce and Fruitdale Fire Chief Jimmy Norton approached the commissioners at their meeting on March 1 on behalf of the Brown County Fire Association.
Pierce said there are a lot of problems in the county with illegal and open burning.
To develop an ordinance that could be enforced, the county would need to come up with its own instead of mirroring the state’s, Pierce said.
Pierce said there are people in the county who do not abide by what the current ordinance states and will burn unattended fires into the night.
Recently there were 40 to 50 mile-per-hour winds that blew smoke from one such fire 110 yards across a lake and into the woods.
An area in the northern part of the county houses farmland where fire chiefs say fields are intentionally burned adjacent to woods that are not accessible by first responders.
“They let them burn all night. Sometimes they get out of control, sometimes they don’t,” Pierce said.
“We try to warn them and warn them, we try to do what state statute says, but when we do, we get nowhere, because when it goes to court, the ordinance has no teeth to it. There’s nothing we can do.”
He said it needed to be brought up to the commissioners to have their attorneys “make it work” for the departments.
The current ordinance was adopted in 2008.
According to the ordinance, if a fire is deemed an emergency or a threat, the fire department reserves the right to put it out.
Emergency situations include: the burning of hazardous or noxious materials, such as treated lumber, asphalt shingles, asbestos materials, varnished and painted materials or plastic; atmospheric conditions; careless nature in which the burning is occurring.
The burning of hazardous materials is under the prevue of Indiana’s Department of Environmental Management. The burning of natural materials falls under the solid waste department.
According to state code, certain permits are given for farms, agriculture, tree farms and county highway departments to burn.
Acts prohibited by the ordinance include the open burning of hazardous materials and unattended open burning.
When it comes to enforcement, the ordinance states that county solid waste and health departments are the area law enforcement officials serving the county. The Town of Nashville and Cordry-Sweetwater Conservancy District (CSCD) are authorized enforcement agencies within their respective boundaries.
The ordinance does not authorize other fire departments outside of Nashville limits or the CSCD.
The fire departments can bill for certain expenses to the Brown County Solid Waste Department, but it is up to solid waste whether they reimburse the department, Pierce said.
Different fines apply to different infractions that are a result of violating the ordinance.
A Class C violation includes a fine of at least $100 but up to $500; a Class B violation is between $250 and $1,000; a Class A violation is between $500 and $2,500.
Pierce said the fire department could issue tickets with a new or revised ordinance, but they prefer that county law enforcement gets involved in the citation process.
He said that often an officer is called to the scene anyway because of threats that fire departments can receive from the owners of the property where the fire is, if they were not the caller notifying dispatch of a fire.
“We need some way from you guys to help us get some teeth to where if we have an officer come out and the person’s doing it over and over, something can be done about it,” he said.
“How many times do we go out on the same addresses? How many times do we go places and get met at driveways and (hear), “If you step foot on my property, I’m going to have you arrested.’
“We were called out, we were dispatched out for the fire. We get there to put it out, but we can’t put it out. Can we just go home and let it burn and get out of control? No.”
If it encroaches upon another property, that becomes damage to that property owner, and they can sue for damages.
“If we don’t put it out, we can get in trouble for not putting it out,” Pierce said. “Do you see where we are? It’s a no-win situation. Unless you guys can come up with something in your ordinance with teeth in it to back us — that’s all we’re asking for. … We’re at a standstill right now.”
The fire association shared a document with the commissioners, including some questions such as what their legalities on a property are, will they be arrested for trespassing and what can be done.
Norton said that being all volunteer, the county fire departments are not as well-funded as a career department would be, which are completely funded by taxpayers.
“Every time we go out we spend money, time and wear and tear,” Norton said.
“If you got out and you can’t put out a fire, you also put the burden on your firefighters. (They ask,) ‘Why am I even here, why do I want to respond to the next one?’”
There is a property that Fruitdale, Hamblen and Jackson volunteer fire departments have responded to three times for brush fires called in by neighbors. Norton said that law enforcement needed to intervene the second time fire was called to the scene.
While there was a wind advisory the first time they called out, the second time there were no environmental conditions that would require the department to legally extinguish the fire.
“An officer and I took an hour to look up the ordinance and the laws. We couldn’t put it out. We all had to leave,” Norton said.
Commissioner Jerry Pittman said that it’s not a “simple matter,” and that he believed people are unaware of what can and cannot be burned.
“Even if we have a heavy rain event and then have a high wind after that, if the high winds are adequately sustained and prevalent for a long period, it’ll dry out the top vegetation,” Norton said.
“People don’t realize that when they go to set a fire in their yard or field.”
“We’re just hoping that you guys can maybe come up with something to help us,” Pierce said.
“We need to have something with a backbone to go off of.”
Pittman said that the commissioners would refer to their legal advisement and seek a recommendation.
